'Malayalee from India' script row deepens: Nishad Koya claims filmmakers were aware of similarities in story

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The controversy over the screenplay of 'Malayalee from India' has deepened with 'Haal' scriptwriter Nishad Koya claiming that he had alerted the filmmakers about the similarities in his script, much before the movie's release. Recently, film director Dijo Jose Antony and producer Listin Stephen had claimed that Nishad raised the allegations against the movie only a day before the film's release. They also called his approach unprofessional.

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However, now, Nishad, in an interview with The Cue Studio, said he had alerted Dijo about the similarities in the script over a year ago. "I have the Whatsapp chat with me. In 2021, we had announced a project with this script starring Jayasurya and directed by Joshiy. However, it did not materialise due to certain issues. Jayasurya then shared the story with Dijo who seemed interested with the project. On Jayasurya's insistence, I read out the script to Dijo, who curtly rejected the offer," he said.

He added: "I later approached Prithviraj with the same script during the shoot of his film 'Salaar'. That's when Prithviraj informed me that Dijo was doing a similar story with Nivin Pauly. I was shocked," he said. "I sent Dijo a voice note on Whatsapp sharing my concern. Dijo promised me the film would be entirely different except for the India-Pakistan angle. When I saw the film's teaser, I realised that the story was almost the same, which is why I decided to publish the post with the storyline on Facebook," he said.

'Malayalee from India' opened to mixed reviews last week and revolves around a Malayali who is forced to leave his country due to an unprecedented turn of events.