PETALING JAYA, February 19 — Tamil film producer PL Thenappan, has sent an intimation letter to producers of Parasite last Wednesday, after claiming that the Oscar-winning film plagiarised Tamil rom-com, Minsara Kanna.
Thenappan claimed that Parasite’s producers had stolen the film’s crux from the rom-com, but did not reveal which part of the film was plagiarised.
Minsara Kanna is a 1999 Tamil-language rom-com, written and directed by K.S. Ravikumar, in which the story revolves around a wealthy man who masquerades as a bodyguard to infiltrate the home of his beloved.
In Boon Jong Ho’s Parasite, the dark comedy thriller tells the story of a struggling poor family deceiving their way, and gaining employment as workers for a rich family.
India Today reported that although the South Korean movie plot was similar to Minsara Kanna, the motives of the characters in both films were completely different.
“There are several films which have similar ideas, but an entire family going to a rich family’s house and deceiving them is the plot from Minsara Kanna. The only difference is that Parasite doesn’t belong to the romantic genre,” Thenappan mentioned.
Madras High Court advocate, Easwar Kuppusamy who is appearing for Thenappan told Times of India that proper legal action will be taken against the creators of Parasite if they failed to get a response to their mail before or by next Wednesday.
Easwar added: “But I foresee an amicable solution if they (Parasite’s producers) admit to have lifted the plot. Then, it’s up to the producer if he demands monetary compensation.”
However, the director of the Tamil movie, K.S. Ravikumar told The News Minute (TNM), “I’m happy that the story has received an Oscar, even if Minsara Kanna served as an inspiration. However, filing a case is up to the producer.”
