Venkat Prabhu admits plot similarity between The GOAT and Rajadurai, expresses regret
Despite the controversy, The GOAT has grossed Rs 450 crore worldwide, solidifying its position as one of Tamil cinema’s biggest hits of the year.
Updated : October 17, 2024 05:35 PM ISTDespite the controversy, The GOAT has grossed Rs 450 crore worldwide, solidifying its position as one of Tamil cinema’s biggest hits of the year.
The GOAT and Rajadurai
Filmmaker Venkat Prabhu's latest movie, The Greatest of All Time (The GOAT), starring Thalapathy Vijay, has been embroiled in plagiarism allegations since its release. At a recent event in Chennai, which was attended by Vijay’s father, SA Chandrasekhar, Venkat admitted that the main plot of The GOAT is similar to the 1993 film Rajadurai.
Venkat Prabhu addressed the controversy head-on. “Only after the release of The GOAT did I come to know it was the same story as SA Chandrasekhar's Rajadurai. When I learned this through social media, I immediately watched the film. I wish I had seen it before making The GOAT because I would have made an even better movie,” Prabhu admitted.
Despite the striking similarities between the two films, Venkat clarified that the resemblance was purely coincidental and not intentional. He expressed regret at missing Rajadurai during his research for The GOAT, noting that the "father vs. son" storyline is universal. “We saw many movies while making The GOAT, but somehow we missed Rajadurai. I regret it,” he said.
The director went on to reflect on how much he has learned from watching films. “Cinema teaches you a lot of things. Chandrasekhar sir said earlier that you can get an idea for a movie from just a scene in another film. For example, the director of Kaadhal found his story when a fellow passenger narrated it to him on a train. Inspiration can come from anywhere,” Prabhu added.
Rajadurai, directed by Chandrasekhar, tells the story of a police officer whose son is kidnapped by his nemesis and raised as a criminal, only to be pitted against his father years later. If you remove the cloning subplot in The GOAT, the core narrative is almost identical to that of Rajadurai.
Fans were surprised that even Thalapathy Vijay did not notice the similarity between the film and his father’s earlier work.
Despite the plagiarism allegations, The GOAT has become a massive commercial success, grossing around Rs 450 crore globally, making it one of the biggest Tamil blockbusters of the year. The film is currently streaming on Netflix.