Malayalam director Sanal Kumar Sasidharan has raised serious allegations against the makers of the Mohanlal-starrer ‘Thudarum’, claiming that the film’s storyline is strikingly similar to his unreleased project ‘Theeyattam’, written back in 2020.
In a detailed Facebook post, Sanal accused the ‘Thudarum’ team of lifting the core of his screenplay. He wrote, “I watched ‘Thudarum’ and it’s clear to me that they’ve stolen the skeleton of my story. Either they didn’t fully grasp the heart of my script, or they intentionally left out its depth while rewriting it to make it seem different.”
Sanal Sasidharan explained that ‘Theeyattam’ revolves around an auto-rickshaw driver named Ambi, who finds himself wrongly accused of murder after someone commits a crime inside his vehicle.
According to him, the main thread of this plot closely mirrors what unfolds in ‘Thudarum’, which has become one of the year’s biggest hits in Malayalam cinema.
The director didn’t stop at just the storyline. He pointed out a specific line of dialogue from his screenplay that, according to him, was copied directly into ‘Thudarum’.
The proverb “Konnaal paapam thinnaal theerum,” which roughly translates to “the sin of killing is absolved by eating,” made its way into the final film, despite being, in his view, irrelevant to the movie’s context.
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Sanal called this inclusion a “major slip-up,” adding that even skilled thieves sometimes leave traces behind.
He further shared that he had pitched ‘Theeyattam’ to prominent actors like Manju Warrier, Tovino Thomas, and Sudheer Karamana, but the project shelved for reasons that remain unclear. Sanal believes that although several years have passed since he shared his story, those who initially heard it might have forgotten—but the similarities are now hard to ignore.
Taking the matter forward, the ‘S Durga’ director announced that he would soon release the full screenplay of ‘Theeyattam’ on Facebook, inviting the public to read it and decide for themselves.
“All of them have read my script. It’s been five years, and maybe they don’t remember. But I will be sharing my screenplay soon so that people can understand where I’m coming from,” he added in his post.
Sanal Kumar Sasidharan is well-known for his thought-provoking films like ‘S Durga’, ‘Chola’, and ‘Vazhakku’.
Meanwhile, ‘Thudarum’, directed by Tharun Moorthy, has gone on to become a box office sensation, earning over ₹150 crore globally despite its modest budget.
So far, the makers of ‘Thudarum’ have not issued any public response to these allegations.