Vijay Antony's 25th film, Shakthi Thirumagan, which hit theatres on September 19, premiered on JioHotstar on October 24. Following the OTT premiere of the film, an X user named Subash Sundar alleged that the story behind Shakthi Thirumagan was stolen. Following this allegation, many media houses and netizens started accusing Arun Prabu, director of Shakthi Thirumagan, of charges of plagiarism.
On Thursday, the director took to his official X handle to pen a clarification note. Sharing a few screenshots of the allegations, he started, "After years of hard work, such false allegations are deeply distressing. When I first heard about it, I thought it was just an online troll and decided to ignore it. However, as several leading media outlets began posting about it and many people reached out seeking clarification, I felt it was necessary to issue a clear statement." He further attached another screenshot as proof of evidence that his story was from 2014. "This is my email correspondence from October 2014," he wrote.
In a rather long note, he further detailed, "The story of Sakthi Thirumagan was written back in 2014 itself. Under the title Parashakthi, it featured a character named Kittu—a broker working at the Secretariat, raised by a Periyarist wall artist named Subbaiya. The story was about a boy who grows up to question society, with a powerful villain placed high up beyond reach — all of which were conceived at that time. The screenplay was later refined according to the changing political climate, and, after years of struggle, it has finally reached the audience in 2025."
Addressing the present allegations, he continued, "In recent days, some people on social media have alleged that Sakthi Thirumagan is a stolen story — that it was originally written by someone else in 2022, and that I copied their synopsis submitted to Dream Warrior Pictures that year. These claims are completely false and part of a conspiracy. I have all the evidence to prove that this screenplay has existed with me since 2014 — including email exchanges, script drafts shared with producers and actors, registration certificates, video and audio recordings, and other documents. Many leading actors to whom I narrated this story and friends who worked with me at different stages are well aware of this—and all of these instances occurred long before 2022. There are witnesses for everything."
On the hardships he faced to make the film, he wrote, "Making a film is an incredibly difficult process, and bringing it to the audience is even harder. To have to deal with such conspiracies and defamatory allegations on top of that is extremely painful. If there is any need for further clarity or evidence, I will present it only before the appropriate legal or official forums. This post is only to make my position clear to the public, the press, the media, and social media friends. I request that these false allegations and conspiracy theories be put to rest once and for all."
Lastly, he concluded his note by saying, "I have neither the need nor the incapacity to steal someone else’s story or script. My heartfelt thanks to everyone who continues to support me, and to the press and media. Please continue to support our film by watching it on Hotstar."
Sunil Kripalani, Trupthi Ravindra, Krish Hassan, Vagai Chandrasekhar, and Cell Murugan also star in supporting roles in the film. The film is scored and produced by Antony himself under his Vijay Antony Film Corporation banner.
