Already embroiled in controversy, Vijay and Atlee’s Bigil now has one more copyright complaint against it. Director Nandi Chinni Kumar has claimed that his film, based on the life of real-life football player Akhilesh Paul, and tentatively called Slum Soccer, bears major resemblances to Bigil.

Kumar claims to have the copyrights to the story in all languages. He further says that his script was registered with the Telangana Cinema Writers Association, and a complaint has been lodged with the body.

"The complaint will be escalated in a day to two to the respective governing Tamil bodies. I had earlier tried to reach out to the film's executive producer Venkat Manickam, asking him to clarify if the film is inspired by Akhilesh Paul and about the similarities between the two films. I haven’t received any response yet,” he says.

He also adds, “I won’t claim that the entire story is the same. But there are striking similarities with my character, when you look at the trailer -- a football player from the slum, the gangster, etc.”

Bigil is being dubbed in Telugu as Whistle.

Notably, there have been two earlier claims against the film. The first claim, by KP Selva, is currently being addressed at the Madras High Court.