Student sues makers of Amaran after incessant calls from Sai Pallavi’s fans

Chennai student sends legal notice to the movie makers demanding compensation 

After enduring a barrage of calls from strangers, V.V. Vaageesan, an engineering student from Chennai, has sent a legal notice to the makers of the Tamil film Amaran.

The troublesome calls started pouring in after the film showed his personal mobile number as belonging to actor Sai Pallavi in a scene. The student has demanded ₹1.1 crore in compensation for the “untold hardships and mental agony” caused by the scene. 

His ordeal started on October 31, 2024, when Amaran, starring Sivakarthikeyan and Sai Pallavi, was released in the theaters. While celebrating Deepavali with his family, Mr Vaageesan’s phone began ringing incessantly with calls from fans attempting to speak with Sai Pallavi. Initially, unaware of the reason, he muted his phone to escape the frequent interruptions. The next day, the number of calls increased by many fold. It was only after listening to some voice messages that he realised his mobile number had been shown in the film.

In one scene, Sai Pallavi tosses a crumpled piece of paper at the hero with her mobile phone number written on it. The number, in real life, belongs to Mr. Vaageesan, who had no prior knowledge of the movie or the late Major Mukund Varadarajan, whose life the film showcased. Many fans assumed the number belonged to Sai Pallavi herself, while a few others thought it was associated with Indu Rebecca Varghese, wife of Major Mukund Varadarajan.

Despite attempts to clarify the misunderstanding, the calls kept coming, disrupting his daily life. “Since the release of the movie, I have not been able to sleep, study, or carry out basic activities without interruptions. The moment I switch on my phone, strangers call me. I am unable to even book a cab and call/receive the driver due to continuous incoming calls,” the student said.

Plea for resolution ignored

Mr. Vaageesan initially sought resolution by posting on social media, tagging the film’s director, Rajkumar Periyasamy, and lead actor Sivakarthikeyan. However, when his requests went unanswered, he decided to take legal action.

On November 7, The Hindu published a report highlighting Vaageesan’s plight. However, he has not yet received any response from the film’s makers, but continues to get relentless calls on his number.

Through his lawyer, Mr. Vaageesan issued a legal notice to the film’s producer and director, demanding that his phone number be removed from the movie immediately and sought ₹1.1 crore as compensation for his sufferings. “I do not want to change my phone number because of this issue because it is linked to my Aadhaar, bank cards and other academic platforms,” he said.

Published - November 20, 2024 10:21 pm IST