In what will come as a relief to Tamil superstar Rajinikanth, he and his team from the film Lingaa have been exempted by a Madurai court from appearing before it in a plagiarism case. Earlier on Monday, after hearing a petition by Madurai-based filmmaker KR Ravi Rathinam, the court had directed Rajinikanth, the film’s producer Rockline Venkatesh, director K S Ravikumar and scriptwriter Pon Kumaran to appear before it on Tuesday. Rathinam had accused the producers of plagiarism and alleged that they had ‘stolen’ the story from his film Mullai Vanam 999. The Madras High Court had allowed the release of the film after collecting a deposit of Rs 5 crores and a separate bank guarantee for a similar amount. It had also directed the lower court to expedite and dispose the case before April 30.
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