OTT Release of Prithviraj Sukumaran Kaduva in Trouble as New Petition Filed in Court

Prithviraj Sukumaran’s Kaduva appears to be getting no respite from Pala-based Jose Kuruvinakunnel, despite having overcome a significant obstacle when it debuted in theatres on July 7. The film, which has been dogged by legal issues from its inception, is currently under threat once again, this time for allegedly disobeying a court order to change the name of its protagonist from Kuruvachan. A fresh petition has been submitted by Jose in the High court to block the OTT release of the action entertainer movie.

Jose Kuruvinakunnel, nicknamed Kuruvachan, a native of Pala, alleged that the story of the film Kaduva is his life story and if this film is released, it will bring disgrace to him and his family. Jose, who had previously filed a complaint alleging that the film’s creators were attempting to defame him and his family with the work, has now gone to court claiming that in the versions of the movie that were shown in Indian theatres, the protagonist’s name had been changed from Kuruvachan to Kuriyachan. However, according to the complaint, the term Kuruvachan was still present in the version that is being screened overseas.

To support his claims against the filmmakers, Jose also provided documentation of the film’s screenings in the US and the United Arab Emirates. Jose now wants to stay the OTT release of the film directed by Shaji Kailas and written by Jinu Abraham, both of whom deny that the movie has got anything to do with the life of Jose and is instead a fictional story.

This is not the only controversy Kaduva got embroiled in. After the movie’s release, viewers pointed out a major issue in the movie as one of the sequences in it would hurt the sentiments of specially-abled kids and their parents. The makers issued a formal apology for the incident and later re-edited the film to remove the contentious section.