Hours after Varalaxmi Sarathkumar's Saraswathi hit the cinemas on Friday, writer Sai Madhav Burra alleged that the soul of his story was "raped" and changed beyond recognition. Taking to social media, the dialogue writer of films like RRR and Kalki 2898 AD wrote that the original story he had written was something else.
Saraswathi, telling the story of a rape victim, credits its story to Burra. Since he is one of the highest-paid and most sought-after writers, naturally, his reaction has sparked a row.
On Saturday, while in Hyderabad, Varalaxmi tried to put forward her side of the story. "Sai Madhav Burra didn't write the entire story of Saraswathi, even though we gave him the sole credit on the title card. We have only taken his storyline and changed the second half. The screenplay is by me. It's insensitive on his part to use a word like 'rape', especially considering the nature of our film. The story he wrote had pacing issues. The second half was not likeable to anyone. He couldn't get the story accepted by anybody for six years. That itself says it all. We had no option but to change the story to be able to make it more interesting," Varalaxmi said.
Sye Raa Narasimha Reddy, Gautamiputra Satakarni, Vishwambhara, Khaidi No. 150, Game Changer, Mahanati, Kanche, Krishnam Vande Jagadgurum, among others, are Sai Madhav Burra's projects. Saraswathi has music by Thaman and co-stars Prakash Raj, Rao Ramesh, Priyamani and others.
