YSR-CBN biopic in trouble after plagiarism accusation

Director Deva Katta has alleged that the story idea he had pitched to producer Vishnu Induri five years ago, was stolen and turned into the films, NTR Kathanayakudu and NTR Mahanayakudu, without his knowledge.

Deva, who is known for churning out intense films like Prasthanam and Autonagar Surya has freshly accused Vishnu of hijacking another script of his, written in 2017, which he had spun around the friendship between late Dr YS Rajasekhar Reddy and Nara Chandrababu Naidu, the two former Chief Ministers of Andhra Pradesh.

In a series of tweets, Deva wrote, "In 2017, I have written a script paying homage to the iconic YSR/CBN political life imagining a fictional friendship/professional rivalry between them and registered it under the copyrights act. I have also registered multiple versions of this script since 2017. The 'idea' is being hijacked by some ppl here over several 'party talks' but hope they limit their fiction to the public domain and don’t invite any legal action by copying any of my registered themes/scenes!"

The Dynamite director also pointed out that he has written the script of the YSR-CBN political drama as a three-part film inspired by Godfather and eventually changed it into a web series. "Our team has pitched this idea to some major OTT platforms and our legal team is closely following up with this news," wrote Deva.

Responding to the allegations, Vishnu said that the story idea of the NTR biopic is his own work and the director hasn't narrated any script to him.

"I would like to clear it once and for all. I met Deva Katta for a remake I selected in December 2015, I also narrated the idea of NTR biopic to him with a basic screenplay. He liked My idea of NTR and I would like to clear that he never narrated anything to me about NTR biopic," tweeted Vishnu..

However, Deva has dismissed Vishnu's claims and tweeted back saying, "Vishnu Induri cannot affect my efforts or perspectives about these these stories any which way! My effort is only to caution about these party hopping idea skimmers to all the writers out there!"