Neelavelicham: MS Baburaj’s family files legal notice against makers of Tovino Thomas, Rima Kallingal starrer

The upcoming period drama is directed by Aashiq Abu.

Aashiq Abu’s highly awaited upcoming directorial Neelavelicham has found itself in hot water of late. The upcoming period drama was reportedly slapped with a legal notice for using the songs of late composer M. S. Baburaj without the prior permission of the latter’s family.

According to a report in Mathrubhumi, the veteran composer’s family issued a legal notice to the film’s director Aashiq and music composer Bijibal. The soundtrack of the upcoming film features new renditions of some songs composed by Baburaj. The latter’s daughter reportedly issued the complaint, in which she also stated that the essence and uniqueness of the original songs had been ruined by the new renditions. A complaint had reportedly also been filed with the state Cultural Minister Saji Cheriyan.

The veteran composer’s family reportedly wanted that all the songs from the film be removed from all platforms and mediums. Three tracks had already been released from the film’s soundtrack, titled Ekanthathayude Mahatheeram, Anuraga Madhuchashakam and Thamasamenthe Varuvan. P Bhaskaran had penned the lyrics of the original songs.

The upcoming film is an adaptation of writer Vaikkom Muhammed Basheer’s short story of the same name, which had also been adapted into a film called Bhargavi Nilayam in 1964, which Basheer had penned the script for. Madhu, Vijaya Nirmala and Prem Nazir had starred in the 1964 A. Vincent directorial.

Neelavelicham marks Aashiq and Tovino’s latest collaboration after the 2022 film Naaradan. In conversation with OTTplay, Tovino had this to say of Neelavelicham “To get to play a character in a film based on Basheer’s work is a huge blessing and I don’t think it’s an opportunity that a lot of people get. I did a lot of research by myself and we also had a workshop”.

The upcoming film will see Tovino share the screen with Rima Kallingal, Shine Tom Chacko, Roshan Mathew and Abhiram Radhakrishnan.Neelavelicham is slated to hit theatres on April 21, 2023.

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