Soon after the announcement of Hindi remake of Shankar's 2005 flick 'Anniyan', producer V Ravichandran raised issues over the matter. He claimed that he owns the rights to the film and it should be remade without his permission. He also strictly advised Shankar to stop going further with the project. There has been a new interesting development in the matter now. Shankar himself has responded to Ravichandran in an equally antagonising letter.

Shankar wrote, "Greetings for the day, I am shocked to receive your mail dated 14.04.2021 stating that you own the storyline of the movie Anniyan.”

“In this context, I submit that the movie was released in the year 2005 and everyone associated with the movie were aware that the script and storyline belongs exclusively to me and in fact the movie was released with the tag: Story, Screenplay and Direction by Shankar. I have not assigned in writing any script or screenplay to any person, and continue to retain the right to exploit the script in any manner I deem fit. As the admitted author of the literary work, my rights cannot be interfered with under any circumstances."

Shankar further explained, "Given that the script vests with me, I am absolutely entitled to exploit the same in any manner I deem fit. Infact, you/your entity does not have the right to remake or make any derivative rights for “Anniyan”, as the said rights have not been granted to you in writing. In the absence of any assignment in writing from me, there can be no basis whatsoever to even assert that the “storyline” vests with you."