Sivakarthikeyan or Vijay Deverakonda - who’s the ‘Hero’?

Vijay Deverakonda and Sivakarthikeyan’s next upcoming films have been titled Hero, and the makers of both these films claim that they have registered the title with the producers council and they have the rights to it.
After a long while, there is a tussle over a film title in Kollywood. On Tuesday night, Mythri Movie Makers, a Tollywood production house announced that their new film will be a sports thriller titled Hero, starring Vijay Deverakonda, and directed by Anand Annamalai, the co-writer of Kaaka Muttai.Meanwhile, on Wednesday morning, KJR Studios held the puja of their film with Sivakarthikeyan and Irumbu Thirai director PS Mithran. Interestingly, they’ve also titled their film Hero!
Anand Annamalai says, “In Tamil, we have registered the title Hero under Tribal Arts, a production company that I formed along with Manikandan. We had registered the title with the Tamil Film Producers Council (TFPC) on July 4, 2017. A registered title is valid for a year, and has to be renewed if the makers want to hold on to its rights. So, we renewed the title on June 14, 2018, and received a receipt saying that our rights over the title is valid till June 14, 2019.”

The director informs us that the other team hasn’t reached out to them regarding the title, and adds that he is not planning to change the title. “I write my script only after finalising the title of my story. That is why we registered it at the scripting stage itself. We have even firmed up our brand associations based on the title. Also, we are using this title in Telugu and the other languages as well, so it wouldn’t be apt to change the title in Tamil alone. Did KGF and Bãhubali release in Tamil with a different title?” he asks.
However, Kotapadi Rajesh, producer of the Sivakarthikeyan film, says that they have bought the rights to the title from composer and director SS Kumaran, who had originally registered it with the Council. “We have a letter from TFPC stating the same. I haven’t got the rights in Telugu because the other film has registered it there, and I’m also not planning for a Telugu version at this stage. But I’m very confident that I have the rights to the title in Tamil. If they are claiming that they have the rights to the title, let them show proof of it,” he says.

SS Kumaran, who is an executive committee member in the Council, says that he had registered the title with the TFPC last year. “I had registered this title in August 2018. My story is about a father and a son, and it talks about how every father is a hero to his son. A couple of months ago, the makers of Sivakarthikeyan’s film approached me, asking for the title. Initially, I wasn’t interested, so I told them I’d give it if I get an alternate title. I managed to get one that was apt for my story, so I legally transferred this title to them 10 days ago,” informs Kumaran.
Talking about the title registration process, SS Durairaj, the honorary secretary of TFPC, says, “Once the filmmakers submit an application to register a title, we check in our database to see if it has already been registered. We also check with the South Indian Film Chamber and the Producers Guild, as a title can be registered with these bodies as well. This process takes a week’s time. If a title has been registered already, we reject the application. If there are no issues, we ask the makers to pay the title registration fee and provide them with a receipt. Then, the executive committee approves the title and gives them a confirmation letter.”
He adds that such a situation hasn’t arisen at the TFPC so far. “I’m not sure how this has happened. We are yet to get any complaint from the makers of both these films. If they approach us, we will look into the issue, find out who has registered the title first, and sort it out amicably,” assures Durairaj.