ED attaches S Shankar's assets worth Rs 10 crore in 'Enthiran' plagiarism case

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has provisionally attached assets worth over Rs 10 crore belonging to renowned filmmaker S Shankar under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), in connection with plagiarism and copyright violation charges related to his 2010 film 'Enthiran'.
According to a report from PTI, officials believe that this is the first instance of asset attachment under the PMLA for plagiarism or copyright infringement in the film industry. On February 17, the ED seized three immovable properties valued at Rs 10.11 crore.

The action follows a complaint filed in 2011 by Aarur Tamilnadan, who alleged that Shankar's blockbuster 'Enthiran' was heavily inspired by his story Jiguba. The complaint, lodged with the Egmore court in Chennai, accuses Shankar of breaching the Copyright Act, 1957, alongside specific sections of the Indian Penal Code.
'Enthiran' featured Rajinikanth and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan in key roles and became a massive success, earning Rs 290 crore globally. The ED highlighted that Shankar received Rs 11.5 crore for his extensive role in the project, covering story development, screenplay, dialogues, and direction.

An independent review by the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) identified "striking" similarities between 'Jiguba' and 'Enthiran', particularly in narrative structure, character arcs, and thematic elements, which strengthened the plagiarism claims.
On the work front, Shankar recently collaborated with Ram Charan for the political action drama 'Game Changer', which also received positive reviews from fans and audiences alike. The film featured Kiara Advani in the lead role alongside Ram. Shankar will soon collaborate with Kamal Haasan for 'Indian 3'.