Conflict over scripts is an issue that seems to be plaguing Kollywood. And now, it’s Suseenthiranwho has found himself in the midst of this controversy with Bhuvana Rajan, an aspiring director, claiming that the story of Pandiya Nadu is his.

According to him, Suseenthiran has used two of his scripts without his permission to come up with the Vishal-Lakshmi Menon-starrer.

Bhuvana Rajan

I’m from Andipatti in Madurai, and run a literary magazine there. I met Suseenthiran when he was shooting for Azhagar Samiyin Kuthirai, and became close with SR Prabhakaran, who was assisting him. After a couple of months, one of Suseenthiran’s assistants called me up and said that he was looking for some good stories. So, I met Suseenthiran and narrated the scripts of two of the seven stories that I had penned. One of them was a revenge drama on sand theft. He then told me that he had started work on a film and that I could stay back and work with him.

For three months, I worked hard over scripts. Subsequently, when I happened to find out that he was discussing scripts with an entirely new team, and I quizzed him, only to be told me to stay within my limits. Last Deepavali, Leninbarathi opted out of Suseenthiran’s team because he wasn’t acknowledged for his contribution to Aadhalal Kadhal Seiveer. And since I knew Suseenthiran because of Lenin, I too left. Later, I got busy finding producers to back my script. Suddenly, Suseenthiran called me just before Deepavali and said that his Pandiya Nadu was releasing. One of his assistants also called me a day before the festival to ask for my account number, saying Suseenthiran was gifting cash to all his ADs. But the next day, I was in for a shock as I found out that his film was directed by combining two of my scripts!

I’m very upset that he has lifted elements from two of my scripts for his film. I’ve been trying to reach him ever since, and as a last resort, went to the press. I haven’t registered any complaint, but I decided to speak about it because I don’t want anyone else to get cheated by him.

Suseenthiran

The first time I met him (Bhuvana Rajan) was when I was scouting for locations to shoot Azhagar Samiyin Kuthirai. He was not part of my team, but was helping my location manager. He told me then that he has done some short films and short stories and wanted to join me as an AD. I was telling my team that he seemed sincere and that we must call on him when we start our next project. Later, I started work on a period script and was looking for someone who could help me get literary references. I’m not an avid reader, and asked him (Bhuvana Rajan) if he could help me on this project. I gave him money so that he could buy books. However, the project was dropped, and I started work on other film.

Now, he claims that the story of Pandiya Nadu is his and that I changed certain elements — sand quarry into stone quarry as the location, used a bus instead of a lorry to bump off the brother, and hired killers from his script to something else — to give it a new twist. The only input he gave me is the fact that in Theni district, people tie a person’s hands and legs together and push him inside a well to seek revenge. I was not in touch with him since the time he went back to his native town, saying there were some issues in his family. He sent me a text 10 days before Deepavali, saying ‘please call me sir’. He told me that he had no money to even buy clothes for his kids.

I immediately asked my manager to get his account number and deposited ` 25, 000, an amount that I gave as a gift to my other ADs as well. I’m shocked that he has levied such false allegations against me. I’m upset that he is seeking publicity by using my name. I’m going to file a complaint against him with the Directors’ Union