Sharath Chandra, the novelist who more than a year ago moved the court claiming that the story of 'Srimanthudu' was stolen from his published story 'Chacchentha Prema' (printed in the magazine 'Swathi'), has said that Mahesh Babu and Koratala Siva being issued summons is a victory.

"I and my family members are fans of Mahesh Babu. But that's a personal matter. I had tried to make my story into a film six months before the release of 'Srimanthudu'. A film with Nara Rohith as the hero was to be made. But once 'Srimanthudu' released, the plans had to be given up," Sharath Chandra says.

"There are many similarities between my novel and the film. It's Devarakonda in my novel, it's Devarakota in the film. In my novel, the heroine rejects the hero when her mother reveals to her the identity of the hero's father. In the film too, the heroine walks out of the hero's life after emotionally asking him to know his roots. The conflict point is essentially the same. As in the novel, the hero goes to the heroine's village. As in the novel, he takes shelter at the heroine's place. As in the novel, they both study in the same college. In my novel, the villagers are victims of land grabbing, a modified version of which is there in the film. I have not used the word 'Dathatu' (adoption) in my novel. Also, the hero's father is a politician in my novel, while he is a businessman in the film," the writer elaborates.

"I don't want to be compensated with money. If and when the film is remade into Hindi, I want to be credited for it. I have been offered money by nogtiators. But money is not my criterion. In the last 1.5 years, I have spent a lot of money fighting for the case. It's not an individual fight, but a fight I am waging on behalf of my writers community," he says.

Sharath Chandra says that industry elders like Dasari Narayana Rao, Vijayendra Prasad, Paruchuri Gopalakrishna have found merit in his argument that the novel bears striking similarity to the movie.