The makers of the ETV Win original series Constable Kanakam have alleged that Zee5’s upcoming show Viraatapalem: PC Meena Reporting has plagiarised their content. At a press interaction held on Wednesday, director Prasanth Kumar Dimmala stated that he had earlier pitched the project to Zee5 and shared the full screenplay, which, he claimed, was later used without permission.
“I narrated to them a while ago. They liked the writing. I mailed them the whole screenplay trusting them,” Prasanth Kumar said and added, “They cancelled the project abruptly, and I moved on with ETV Win. But the same people I pitched to are still working at Zee5 and made the series with my content. I have proof of everything.”
Constable Kanakam, which stars Varsha Bollamma in the lead, began production in December 2024. The makers assert that the series was officially registered in 2022 and is now the subject of a legal dispute. They have approached the court and stated that they will pursue the matter fully to protect their work.
Meanwhile, Zee5 is gearing up to premiere Viraatapalem: PC Meena Reporting on June 27. Directed by Krishna Poluru and written by Divya Thejaswi Pera, the supernatural thriller is set in the 1980s and follows a police constable investigating a mysterious curse in a fictional village. The show is backed by South Indian Screens, the same team behind Recce.
The Constable Kanakam team alleges that both series share similar plotlines and that Zee5 unlawfully used their script. The ETV Win series is produced by Meteor Entertainments in association with ETV Win and features a technical team including cinematographer Sriram Mukkupati, editor Madhav Kumar Gullapalli, and composer Suresh Bobbili.
