Director Shankar lands in trouble with ED over Rajinikanth starrer Enthiran’s copyright case? Here’s what we know

As per ongoing reports, director Shankar has found himself in trouble with the Enforcement Directorate owing to the Enthiran copyright case!

By Goutham S

Published on Feb 20, 2025 | 11:24 PM IST | 23.6K

Shankar lands in trouble with ED over Rajinikanth starrer Enthiran’s copyright case? (PC: Shankar/IMDb)

Director Shankar has reportedly come under the scrutiny of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in connection with the Enthiran copyright infringement case.

According to reports, including one by Times Now, the director’s property worth ₹10.11 crores has been seized and attached to the case by the ED under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

The ED’s move follows a copyright infringement complaint filed against the movie Enthiran by writer Aarur Tamilnadan in a metropolitan magistrate court back in 2011. The writer claimed that the storyline of Enthiran bore similarities to his story titled Jiguba and accused Shankar of violating the Copyright Act.

Following the writer’s complaint, the ED launched an investigation into the case, including the financial aspects of the director’s earnings from the movie—covering story development, screenplay, dialogues, and direction.

Interestingly, the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) conducted an independent study on the matter and found that both stories shared similarities, including character development, narrative structure, and themes.

Regarding the movie itself, Enthiran, starring Rajinikanth in the lead role, was released in 2010. The science fiction action film follows the story of a scientist named Vaseegaran, who creates a humanoid robot in his own image called Chitti. The film explores the scientist's attempts to teach the android human emotions, which inadvertently leads the robot to fall in love with the scientist’s girlfriend.

The movie featured Aishwarya Rai Bachchan as the female lead and an ensemble cast including Danny Denzongpa, Santhanam, Karunas, Cochin Haneefa, Kalabhavan Mani, and many more in key roles.

A sequel, 2.0, was released in 2018, with Rajinikanth reprising his roles as both Vaseegaran and Chitti. The sequel continued the storyline of its predecessor, introducing a new antagonist, Pakshi Rajan, a vengeful avian-human hybrid played by Akshay Kumar.

Apart from Rajinikanth and Akshay Kumar, 2.0 also featured Amy Jackson, Sudhanshu Pandey, Adil Hussain, Kalabhavan Shajohn, and others in pivotal roles.