Malayalam actress Priya Prakash Varrier and her debut Bollywood film Sridevi Bungalow featured in headlines on Monday, after several media reports claimed that filmmaker Boney Kapoor, husband of late actress Sridevi, sent a legal notice to the team, reportedly over the film's title. In her defence, Priya Prakash Varrier, who became an Internet sensation last year with a wink, told The Times Of India that "Sridevi is just the name of her character" while the film's director Prashant said it is just a "coincidence that it is based of an actress named Sridevi's life." In the film's defence, Priya said, "Sridevi is just the name of my character in the movie. Who would want to create such controversies? I think the curiosity surrounding the trailer is good and we have to leave it to the audience to judge if the film is based on the veteran actress Sridevi ma'am."
Going by the trailer of Sridevi Bungalow, the plot of the film revolves around a movie star named Sridevi, who leads a lonely life. It concludes with the death of the actress in a bathtub. Actress Sridevi also died after drowning in a hotel bathtub in Dubai in February 2018.
The TOI report states that in the legal notice sent by Boney Kapoor to the makers of Sridevi Bungalow, the filmmaker has asked them to remove Sridevi's name from the title and also the other similarities to her life in the film. Of the controversy, director Prashanth TOI, "In the notice, Boney Kapoor has raised a few objections against our film including the usage of the name and doing a biopic of the actress. He wanted us to alter the name of our movie within 24 hours. We sent him a reply explaining that Sridevi was a common name and there was no logic in objecting to it. It is just coincidence that my movie tells the tale of an actress named Sridevi."
Twitter users have called out Sridevi Bungalow makers for the plot. "This is disgusting" and "how can you show this" are some of the tweets against the film's trailer.
"Like Priya said, we would like to leave it to the audience to decide. The film is a crime-thriller and it is important to maintain the suspense of the story. I cannot walk around and reveal the plot to all. I am a hardcore fan of actress Sridevi and I respect and admire her a lot. But just because she died in a bath tub doesn't mean nobody else won't. Allow us to release the movie and let the people decide," the director told TOI.
"I am ready to face it as I am very well aware that a biopic cannot be made without permission. It is a story that came to my mind about an actress named Sridevi and certain situations that she faces in London," he added.
Sridevi Bungalow is currently in the work-in-progress stage and is expected to release in April.
