‘Manjummel Boys’: Producers of hit film booked on cheating charges

Producers of Malayalam blockbuster Manjummel Boys face legal trouble after failing to honour profit-sharing promise to investor.

Close on the heels of the resounding success of their film, the producers of the Malayalam blockbuster Manjummel Boys find themselves in a spot of bother after the Maradu police in Kerala registered a case against them, including for cheating, on a complaint that they failed to honour a promise over profit-sharing they allegedly made to an investor in the film.

The police registered the case on April 23 on the direction of the Ernakulam First Class Magistrate Court after one Siraj Valiyathara Hameed accused the producers of the movie, Parava Films, a limited liability partnership firm, and its partner Shawn Antony of not giving 40% share of the profits as allegedly promised. Following this, the court had ordered freezing of the bank accounts of the producers.

The police have arraigned Mr. Antony, actor-producer and partner of Parava Films Soubin Shahir and Babu Shahir as the accused.

According to the FIR, Parava Films offered the complainant a profit share of 40% if he invested in the production of Manjummel Boys that entailed a production cost of ₹22 crore. Subsequently, an agreement was reached between Mr. Antony and the complainant on November 30, 2022.

Thereafter, the complainant initially transferred ₹5.99 crore to the account of Parava Films maintained with the Kadavanthra branch of a bank, followed by the transfer of ₹50 lakh to the account of Mr. Antony. Besides, another ₹51 lakh was collected in cash over a period of time, thus collectively borrowing ₹7 crore. The principal amount along with the promised profit share of ₹40 crore was not paid, thus cheating the complainant collectively to the tune of ₹47 crore, the FIR said.

The police have booked the accused under Indian Penal Code (IPC) Sections 120b (criminal conspiracy), 406 (criminal breach of trust), 420 (cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property) 468 (forgery for the purpose of cheating) and 34 (acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention).

By the producers’ own claim, Manjummel Boys has collected over ₹200 crore following its massive theatrical success, including in Tamil Nadu.