Director Shankar has threatened legal action against those allegedly “ripping off” scenes from the Tamil novel Veera Yuga Nayagan Vel Pari by Su Venkatesan.  Shankar owns the copyright to the novel, and without mentioning names, he said that the trailer of a recent film features a key scene from the novel. 

“As the copyright holder of Su Venkatesan’s iconic Tamil novel "Veera Yuga Nayagan Vel Pari", I'm disturbed to see key scenes being ripped off & used without permission in many movies. Really upset to see important key scene from the novel in a recent movie trailer. Kindly refrain from using the scenes from the novel in movies, web series and any medium, Respect creators' rights! Refrain from Unauthorized adaptations of scenes, Refrain from infringement or face legal action!” Shankar wrote on his social media handles on Sunday, September 22. 

Veera Yuga Nayagan Vel Pari is a story of the tribal king Velpari. The novel traces why the Cheras, Cholas, and Pandyas waged war against Vel Paari, featuring several scenes involving pirates and naval warfare. 

It is speculated that Shankar was referring to the makers of Jr NTR’s Devara. Directed by Koratala Siva, the film features actors Jr NTR, Janhvi Kapoor, Saif Ali Khan, and others. The high-budget film will be released in two parts, and the first part will be released on Friday, September 27.

The trailer of the film, which was launched on September 22,  shows Jr NTR playing dual roles and scenes featuring smuggling in the sea. This is Janhvi Kapoor’s debut in Telugu, and the music has been scored by Anirudh Ravichander. The film will be released in Telugu, Tamil, Malayalam and Hindi languages.