The screenplay of Randamoozham is finally back where it belongs. M.T. Vasudevan Nair, who has adapted his classic novel for the screen, has been handed over the script by director V.A. Shrikumar Menon.
The two-year legal battle, which began at the munsiff court here and reached the Supreme Court, is over. The munsiff court has passed the order following a joint statement from M.T. and Mr. Menon.
M.T. has also returned the advance of ₹1.25 crore to the director. Mr. Menon, according to the clauses in the settlement, cannot make a film with Bheema as the central character. M.T. is now free to work with any director for the screen adaptation of Randamoozham, a retelling of Mahabharata from Bheema’s viewpoint.
“The process to turn Randamoozham into a film is already on,” Aswathy Srikanth, M.T.’s daughter who has been looking after the case, told The Hindu. “Because of COVID-19, it may take longer than usual to finalise the project, but we hope it would happen soon.”
K.B. Sivaramakrishnan, the lawyer who appeared for M.T. at the munsiff and Supreme courts, said he was happy that the legal battle could be settled within two years. “A case like this could have gone on for many years and we are all glad that the judicial system acted fast,” he said. “It is indeed gratifying that the whole issue is resolved and that Randamoozham could finally happen. But it is saddening that V.V. Narayanan, the High Court lawyer who worked with me for the case, passed away before the final verdict came.”
The plan
It was in April, 2017, that Mr. Menon had announced that Randamoozham would be made in several languages, including Malayalam, English and Hindi, at a cost of ₹1,000 crore.
He had also said that it would be produced by UAE-based entrepreneur B.R. Shetty, who has since run into financial, legal troubles.
The film was expected to be released in two parts in 2020. But, when the film’s shoot did not begin within the time agreed upon in the contract, M.T. approached the court to get the script back.
