The Palarivattom police have registered a forgery case against film producer PS Shamnas following a petition filed by Nivin Pauly. The actor-producer has alleged that Shamnas forged his signature to unlawfully claim full production rights for the upcoming second instalment of Action Hero Biju.
According to the FIR, Nivin, the film's director Abrid Shine, and Shamnas had jointly signed an agreement in March 2023 to co-produce the sequel under a shared understanding. However, Nivin claims that Shamnas subsequently submitted a fabricated consent letter bearing a forged version of his signature to the Kerala Film Chamber of Commerce, thereby registering the project solely under his production banner, Indian Movie Makers. The Film Chamber is reportedly reviewing the matter and may take action against Shamnas based on the developments in the police investigation.
This case follows an earlier complaint lodged by Shamnas with the Thalayolaparambu police, where he accused Nivin and Abrid of financial fraud. He alleged that overseas distribution rights of Action Hero Biju 2 were sold without his consent and that around Rs 1.9 crore was collected from him under the pretext of a production partnership. In that case, filed on July 16, resulted in both Nivin and Abrid receiving notices to appear for questioning.
Shamnas has also claimed he is owed Rs 95 lakh from their previous collaboration, Mahaveeryar (2022), and that the offer to co-produce Action Hero Biju 2 was extended as compensation after the earlier film's underwhelming box office performance. In the latest case, Shamnas has been booked under Sections 465 (forgery) and 471 (using as genuine a forged document or electronic record) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
