Controversy over Malayalam film title 'Higuita' set to reach court

Talks between the makers of the film 'Higuita' and the Kerala Film Chamber held here on Tuesday after writer N.S. Madhavan complained about using the name of his short story, failed to break the ice. The matter is now all set to take the legal route.

Controversy over Malayalam film title 'Higuita' set to reach court
Source: IANS

Kochi, Dec 6 (IANS) Talks between the makers of the film 'Higuita' and the Kerala Film Chamber held here on Tuesday after writer N.S. Madhavan complained about using the name of his short story, failed to break the ice. The matter is now all set to take the legal route.

Trouble began for director Hemant G.Nair when the Chamber (the apex body of all the film bodies in the Malayalam industry) informed him that they have received a complaint from Madhavan.

To discuss this issue Nair and the producers of the film met at the Chamber office where Nair stood his ground that he does not intend to change the name of the film.

"We showed the short story of Madhavan and the script of our film and it has got no similarity at all. The Chamber officials told us to get the permission of Madhavan to use the title. We have not done any wrong, hence we will now seek legal redress to resolve the issue," said Nair.

Seventy four-year-old Madhavan, a former IAS officer, had written a short story named 'Higuita'. When he came to know of the film he reported the matter to the Chamber, which asked Nair not to use Higuita as the title of his debut film.

Nair says his film was announced in 2019 and the title was registered with the Chamber. Later, the launch was held with a big function and social media was also active with it and now this issue has surfaced.