Kerala Court Orders Major Ravi to Pay ₹30 Lakh for Plagiarism in Karmayodha

A commercial court in Kerala has directed filmmaker Major AK Raveendran, popularly known as Major Ravi, to pay ₹30 lakh as compensation for copying the screenplay of the Malayalam film Karmayodha. The court found that the film’s story, screenplay and dialogues were substantially taken from an original work created by writer Reji Mathew, without his permission or credit.

The judgment was delivered on November 21 by the Kottayam Commercial Court. The court held that Reji Mathew successfully proved that he was the original author of the story and screenplay, and that these were later used in the film released in 2012.

According to the case records, Major Ravi had approached Mathew in 2011 to develop a screenplay based on the issue of women trafficking. Mathew completed the work and shared the script, screenplay and even suggested possible titles, including Karmayodha. However, the project was later dropped without explanation. Mathew then learnt through media reports that a film with the same storyline was being produced, with Major Ravi claiming credit as the writer.

After examining the evidence and comparing the two scripts, the court found clear similarities in scenes, characters and narrative structure. It rejected the defence claim that the film was independently developed from a one-line idea. The court observed that the similarities were too significant to be accidental.

The court also clarified that copyright law protects the expression of an idea, such as a script or screenplay, and not just the final film. While a producer or director may own rights over the film, the original writer retains copyright over the literary work unless it is formally assigned in writing.

As a result, the court declared Reji Mathew as the rightful owner of the copyright and authorship of the story, script and screenplay of Karmayodha. It also restrained Major Ravi and others from exhibiting, remaking or reproducing the film without properly crediting Mathew. Major Ravi and the producer were jointly ordered to pay ₹30 lakh in compensation within two months.