Nanpakal Nerathu Mayakkam: THIS Tamil filmmaker accuses Mammootty, Lijo Jose Pellissery's movie of plagiarism

Lijo Jose Pellissery's Nanpakal Nerathu Mayakkam, starring Mammootty in the lead, opened to positive reviews from critics and movie lovers when it was released in theatres in January. The acclaimed film started streaming on Netflix in Malayalam, Telugu and Hindi a couple of days ago.

As expected, the movie has been garnering terrific response from cinephiles from across the country. Film lovers are going gaga over Mammootty's performance, Theni Eswar's visuals and Lijo Jose's making. Fans of the filmmaker have been taking to social media to explain how the Mollywood director is ahead of times when it comes to executing out-of-the-box stories.

However, a plagiarism accusation by a leading Tamil filmmaker on the movie has left many stunned. Halitha Shameem, who is popular for her works Sillu Karupatti and Loner among others, has taken to her Facebook page to express disappointment over makers of Nanpakal Nerathu Mayakkam.

According to her, the Mollywood film has copied many aspects of her movie Aelay which was released in 2021. She has come up with a long post in Tamil which begins with the statement 'Stealing all the aesthetics from a film isn't acceptable'.

She alleges that some of the notable characters in Aelay have been tweaked and presented in a different manner in the Malayalam movie and that even a few actors he chose for her film have appeared in Lijo Jose's project. She added, "You can dismiss my film Aelay, but I'll not be quiet if the ideas and aesthetics from it is mercilessly ripped off (sic)."   

A few of her fans have come out in support of her and have asked her to deal with the issue in a legal manner, while some others pointed out the similarities in the posters of both the movies. Interestingly, a few film buffs opined that Theni Eswar, the cinematographer who cranked the camera for the two films, should speak out on the issue.