Director Sanal Kumar removes 'Vazhakku' from online platform following copyright complaint by co-producer

Director Sanal Kumar Sasidharan has removed his film 'Vazhakku' from an online platform after a copyright infringement complaint was filed by co-producer Gireesh Nair.

Sanal had shared the full movie for free on Tuesday (May 14) afternoon but took it down by early Wednesday (May 15) following the backlash. The film, which stars Tovino Thomas in the lead role, also features Sudev Nair and has garnered praise on the festival circuits.

The situation took a different turn as Sanal Kumar, in a recent Facebook post, levied new accusations against Tovino Thomas, who is not only the protagonist but also a co-producer of the movie. Sanal alleged that Tovino, feeling insecure about his performance and fearing being overshadowed by his co-actor Sudev Nair, opposed the online release of 'Vazhakku'.

In Sanal’s new Facebook post, he mentioned that Tovino Thomas is afraid that his co-actor Sudev Nair who plays a police officer in the film, outshone him. “Now, when I tried to release the movie online, the producers again blocked the movie. Their attitude towards the film is clear now. Now, I have the evidence to show you,” Sanal wrote.

The director further said, “I saw several comments saying that releasing the movie online for free has affected the producers of ‘Vazhakku’. How can the producers be at a loss when they didn't even care about my movie’s original copy for over 3 years? Even Tovino or the producer Girish Nair are unaware of the original copy of the movie, they have not taken any efforts to search for it also.”

On the last day, the director's action of releasing 'Vazhakku' online without proper authorization was met with significant criticism from the film community. Industry professionals emphasized that releasing a film publicly without the consent of the producers is a breach of contractual and legal obligations.

The clash between Sanal Kumar and Tovino Thomas has been ongoing, with Sanal previously claiming that Tovino obstructed the commercial release of 'Vazhakku' despite its success at film festivals.