Is Mohanlal Starrer Thudarum Copied? Filmmaker Sanal Kumar Sasidharan Accuses Makers Of Plagiarism, Says 'It's Made By Stealing'

Mohanlal starrer Thudarum left a lasting impact at the box office by becoming the third highest-grossing Malayalam film and the fourth highest-grossing Indian film of 2025 (so far). Helmed by Tharun Moorthy, the crime thriller revolved around a taxi driver called Benz, who is attached to his ageing Ambassador car. However, when fate puts him to the test, he must prove just how far he'll go for what he holds dear. Now, filmmaker Sanal Kumar Sasidharan has accused the makers of plagiarism. He took to his Facebook handle claiming that Mohanlal starrer is based on the structure of his movie Theeyattam, which he wrote in 2020.

The filmmaker penned a detailed note alleging how Thudarum makers borrowed the framework but failed to capture the essence as they didn't understand the plot. Sasidharan further announced that he will soon be releasing the full script of Theeyattam on Facebook for people to compare and judge the two.

He started his note by writing, “I saw the movie Thudarum. It’s made by stealing the skeleton of my screenplay, Theeyattam, which I wrote in 2020. The core of it, however, remains safe; either because they (the makers of Thudarum) lacked the intelligence to understand its essence, or because they deliberately avoided it in their attempt to rewrite it unrecognisably."

He further opened up about the story he wrote, "The story is about Ambi, an autorickshaw driver, killing a man in his autorickshaw and beheading him, and then the police trap Ambi."

He further pointed out, "An essential dialogue in my script, 'Konnal paapam tinnal thirum', is said in this even though it is not necessary. Even thieves who are experts at stealing without leaving any evidence behind will forget themselves due to some curiosity. I felt that the use of that dialogue was similar. Century Productions had also agreed to produce it as a film starring Manju Warrier, Tovino Thomas, Murali Gopi, Sudheer Karamana and others. All of them have read the script."

"Since five years is a long period, it is possible that they will forget it. My script will be published here soon," he concluded.

The screenplay of Thudarum was written by KR Sunil and is produced by M. Renjith through Rejaputhra Visual Media. Made on a budget of ₹28 crore, the film grossed ₹232 crore worldwide in 34 days, including ₹118 crore gross from Kerala alone.

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