Is Mohanlal's Neru Copied From This Jack Sholder Film?

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posted on 9 months ago — updated on 1 second ago

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There were reports that Neru is heavily inspired by the film Sketch Artist II: Hands That See directed by Jack Sholder.

Mohanlal-starrer Neru, directed by Jeethu Joseph, released at the box office on December 21, 2023. It is currently streaming on Disney Plus Hotstar. Despite the accolades, Neru also ended up courting controversy for plagiarism accusations. There were reports that Neru is heavily inspired by the film Sketch Artist II: Hands That See directed by Jack Sholder. Jeff Fahey and Courteney Cox acted in the film as leads. This became evident in a few scenes of both the films. The Sketch Artist II revolves around a serial rapist. A blind woman named Emmy (Courteney Cox) becomes his victim. Emmy later teams up with a police sketch artist and utilises her sense of touch to help create the artist sketch the face of the rapist. Mohanlal-starrer Neru follows the same trajectory. Netizens noticed these striking similarities and shared memes on social media, making comparisons between both films.

A post shared by Rahul Ramesh (@rahulrame_sh)

Not only this Hollywood film, but Neru also became embroiled in trouble due to the allegations levelled by the scriptwriter Deepu K Unni.

Deepu K Unni, the petitioner, claimed that Neru’s script was his intellectual property and had been stolen by the filmmakers. He sought intervention from the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC), the Union Government, the state government, and the state police to stop the release of the film. The Kerala High Court, however, declined to issue a stay on the release of the film. As per Deepu K Unni, he had discussed his script with director Jeethu Joseph and actor Santhi Mayadevi, who are co-writers of the film, in 2021. Unni alleged that Joseph and Priya pressured him to hand over copies of the script, stating they needed expert lawyers to understand the “emotional court drama sequence.”

Siddique, Abraham Jacob, Priyamani, Jagadish, Anaswara Rajan, and others also acted in Neru. Aashirvad Cinemas produced this pan-India film.

Besides Neru, Mohanlal has also acted in the film Malaikottai Vaaliban, directed by Lijo Jose Pellissery. Sonalee Kulkarni, Manoj Moses, Grace Antony, Hareesh Peradi, and others also acted in this film. It was released in Tamil and Malayalam on January 25.