'Dijo knows everything, It is my script'; Nishad Koya responds to ‘Malayalee from India’ script row

It has not been one week since the political satire thriller ‘Malayalee from India’ graced theatres and the current controversies regarding the movie are spiralling out of hand. Prominent scriptwriter Nishad Koya, known for the blockbuster ‘Ordinary’, has again reiterated the allegation of the filmmakers using his screenplay without seeking permission.

Earlier producer of the movie Listin Stephen came heavily against Nishad for stirring controversies which he alleged to be a bid to dampen the movie's success. Listin also asked Nishad to seek legal methods and file a complaint to the producers’ association to sort out the issue. This even forced Nishad to take back a Facebook post which he posted just one day before the movie's release.

In the latest interview allowed to an online channel, Nishad revealed the unknown story about the script and his meeting with director Dijo Jose Antony.

Nishad Koya:

I wrote the script back in 2021. Jayasuriya decided to do the lead role while director Joshiy was set to direct the movie. Everything went fine and the movie was even announced but then came some last-minute quibbles, taking away the long hard work. The movie didn’t materialize. And on another note, I haven’t registered the script and don't have any patent on it. But, I have emails that will serve as proof that I worked on the script way back in 2019. The movie was tentatively titled ‘Indo-Pak’.

During this time, Jayasuriya while acting in an advertisement suggested the story to Dijo, who seemed impressed as told to me by Jayasuriya. The actor even informed me about Dijo’s interest in doing the work. I thus contacted Dijo, but he seemed impassive to the suggestion and curtly rejected the offer.

Later, I approached Prithviraj during the shooting of ‘Salaar’ and pitched the same story. Raju (Prithviraj) then told me about Dijo’s next movie with Nivin, which he heard had the same storyline. I was taken aback and approached Dijo to get confirmation. The director meanwhile dismissed all such stories and said he was planning a total humour film and the only similarity with my script would be the lead actor's visit to Pakistan. I took the words to trust and moved ahead with my work. It was then I saw the trailer of Dijo's movie and then knew where this was heading.

The trailer simply showed that it was my script. I felt necessary to put an FB post of my script to see if I could trigger any response from the filmmakers. It did.

The producers asked me to take back the post and suggested I move legally to sort the issue. Even many senior members from the film fraternity contacted me and I acquiesced to their suggestions.

You can even see the silent promotion of the movie which even perturbed producer Listin Stephen. Dijo never wanted to promote the movie because he feared a controversy regarding the script. I have not seen any recent movie abandoning promotion works.