Director Jeethu Joseph, who is riding high on the success of Mohanlal starrer 'Drishyam', today refuted reports that his script drew inspiration from any Japanese or Korean authors' books.
"My movie is based on a thought, a situation narrated by a person during a meeting some 12 years ago. It has not been inspired by any Japanese or Korean authors," he told PTI.
Joseph said the person was explaining the problems of two families and how they were at each others throats and he wanted to be neutral and try to bring things around.
"I caught hold of the thought, situation and started thinking in terms of how this could work in cinema and that is where the seed for Drishyam germinated," he said.
He was reacting to reports that the Malayalam movie was reportedly inspired by Japanese author Keigo Higashino's book 'The Devotion of Suspect X', the rights of which Ekta Kapoor has acquired.
Some industry people had reportedly asked Ekta's creative team to watch 'Drishyam', pointing out that some elements are similar to the Japanese author's book.
Jeethu said devotion to Suspect X has the story revolving around two murders. "Have you read it?"
There was another report that Drishyam was based on Akira Kurosawa's Rashomon, he said.
He is of the view that in any movie one can find some similarities with themes in books or even films. "But that does not mean that you have copied or been inspired by it."
"Drishyam is a murder cover up. The script is original, a work of three-six months," he said.
The murder-thriller, released in December last, has turned out to be a blockbuster and is fast approaching the 75-day mark in many theatres.
Besides Mohanlal, Meena, Siddique and Asha Sharath enact key roles in the movie, revolving around the family of a cable TV operator and how things go topsy-turvy when a murder occurs in the house.
Jeethu earlier had Mammootty in mind but as the star found it difficult to give dates, decided on Mohanlal.
