The first-ever Beary film with the same title, shared the Best Feature Film award along with Marathi film Deol when the names were announced on Wednesday in New Delhi.
The film, produced by Mangalore-based producer Altaf Hussain Chokkabettu, was released in June last year with the director himself playing the lead male character.
Sara, who had raised her objections during and before the release of the movie, once again reiterated her stand that the movie was based on her successful novel, which narrated the plight of a young Muslim woman who 's life was shattered by the misuse of provisions of Talaq in Islam.
“Altaf Hussain Chokkabettu, the producer of the movie had asked her for the rights of the book. “I had already signed a agreement until 2015 with the National Film Development Corporation that I would not give the story to any visual media,” she told coastaldigest.com
Despite her telling the producer of Byari that he could not use the story, in Kerala, he had declared that his film was based on her book. “He even put up posters in Mangalore saying that the story was mine,” she said. “But when I raised objections he backtracked and, claimed that the story was written by Irfan Chokabettu”.
Sara, has in fact, approached court seeking justice, but had to withdraw since she was 'disillusioned' with the legal system of the country.
“Today lawyers don't take up cases on the basis of who's right or who's wrong. They want to ascertain how influential or financially sound the other party is before taking up one's case. Even otherwise, the judicial process is riddled with inordinate delays. At 75, I was not prepared for the long haul,” says Sara.
“I still have the clippings of his (Altaf) statements published in Malayalam newspapers. I also have a poster of the movie which has my name on it. I had produced them before the court. The court had asked the defendant to produce the book supposedly written by Irfan Chokkabettu,” she said, but insisted she had withdrawn the case since she was not sure of getting justice.
When asked about the marked difference in the climax of her novel and that of the movie, she said: “When you adopt a book to the visual media, you make certain changes. It has happened with all the great works of Kannada literature. It cannot be a mere coincidence that the names of characters of the movie and that of my book are same.”
Sara is also unhappy that fellow-writers did not come out in the open to support her fight against what she called an act of blatant plagiarism. “Of course I am pained by the marked silence of my fellow writers. They should have come out in the open to fight against the injustice. Even in the Karnataka Film Chamber, except Jayamala, no one took up my cause. If this had happened in United States or some other country, people would have reacted strongly,” she says.
When asked how she felt about a debut Beary film getting a top national award, she said: “Awards are not a big thing. The movie was about one of the worst practices in our religion. The portrayal of the evil practice will definitely fetch awards. I won the award for the best story for the same novel when it was made a film in Tamil. So it was quiet expected. And you know how the awards are decided these days. Lot of lobbying and behind-the-scene maneuvering goes into it.”
Reacting to a question if she was feeling betrayed that she had been denied the credit, Mrs. Sara said: “No, not at all. I have already secured awards and accolades for my work. My books have been made the textbook in some universities. I have been bestowed honorary doctorate by three universities in Karnataka. I am saddened by the way he (Altaf) cheated me and went on to claim that he did not even know me.”
On the other hand producer Altaf Hussain refuted her claim and said the film was based on Quran and not on anyone's book.
“Just because the names of the characters are same, she cannot claim that the movie is based on her book. The movie has been created based on a real-life event. Our movie does not violate the tenets of Islam, while her book questions the Islamic customs,” he argues.
Altaf reiterated that he did not know Sara Aboobaker until the controversy broke out. “I did not know who this woman was. When I set out on the movie-making mission, I would have naturally spoken to writers in the Beary community. There are eminent writers like Boluvaru, Fakir Mohammed Katpad, Baddur who are well-versed in Beary culture and language. Sara Aboobaker does not belong to beary community. She is a Malayali. Their culture and our culture are different. So, I would not have met her even to get her advice,” he says.
Insisting that he had never spoken to the media in Trissur International Film Festival, nor printed any publicity material with her name on it, Altaf says, “the publicity material submitted by her (Sara) to the court is two years old. But we prepared the first poster only after we got the censor certificate from the concerned authorities. The movie was released in Mangalore on June 9. The only press meet we held in connection with the movie was in Mangalore on June 3.”
When asked if Irfan Chokkabettu's work has been published in the print media, he said: “Irfan is a talented writer. He has got a number of stories with him which are not published anywhere.”
Reacting sharply to Sara's criticism of plagiarism, Altaf said: “It is foolish to say that she withdrew her case because lawyers cheated her. The advancing age is clearily showing in her statements. Now that the film has won national award, she has started to blackmail us once again. But this will not succeed.”
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