Junglee Pictures to make a film on rise and fall of Dosa King P Rajagopal

Junglee Pictures will tell the unbelievable story of Jeevajothi Santhakumar and her battle against P Rajagopal, the restaurateur known as the Dosa King, who was responsible for the murder of her husband Prince Santhakumar.

The film studio, known for features such as Talvar (2015), Bareilly Ki Barfi (2017), Badhaai Ho (2018) and Raazi (2018), has bought Jeevajothi Santhakumar’s life rights in all languages for literary and audio-video purposes.

The film will follow the story of P Rajagopal’s incredible rise, founding his first restaurant, Saravana Bhavan, in 1981 and making it synonymous with South Indian food. The brand had more than 100 outlets in 28 countries.

But there was another facet to the businessman, where he relentlessly sought the hand of Jeevajothi, the daughter of one of his employees. After threatening violence against her and her family several times, he called for Prince’s murder in 2001. He was eventually sentenced to life by the Madras high court in 2009 but later received bail on medical grounds.

In March 2019, the Supreme Court upheld his murder conviction and sentence and ordered him to surrender immediately.

Jeevajothi, who went through a lengthy battle to see Rajagopal convicted, was eager to share her story with the world. She stated, “I am overwhelmed and elated by Junglee Pictures’ decision to make a feature film about my legal and emotional battle with this affluent hotelier, a struggle that went on for 18 years. I am confident that seeing this story on the big screen will bring about a drastic change in the status quo of patriarchy.”

Bhavani Iyer, who has written the screenplays of Lootera (2013) and Raazi, has been signed on to write the script.

She said, "When Junglee Pictures reached out to me to tell this story inspired by real events, I was immediately struck by how an aspirational story can quickly turn into a cautionary tale. Just one moment in your life and your response to it can define you either as a survivor or a victim. Jeevajothi fought a long battle against an incredibly powerful person and has survived to tell the tale.

“The fact that she has made something special out of her life is a testament to what she is truly made of, and an inspiration to me as a woman first, then as a writer. So in our story, one character is a true survivor, while the other is a classic example of what power and delusion can lead to. Writing this is a fabulous challenge and I am so excited to get started," she said.

The producers will be announcing the cast of this project soon. A spokesperson from the film studio also added, “This case was covered nationwide and even internationally, for close to two decades until it finally culminated in a landmark Supreme Court judgment in 2019. It is a story of ambition that got a man out of a poverty-struck village in Tamil Nadu to dizzying heights of global success followed by a series of shocking events and of Jeevajothi’s timelessly inspiring courage as she struggled for 18-years in the face of stupendous odds and continued to have faith in the Indian courts to deliver justice. This is a story that must be told, and we cannot wait to tell it.”

Junglee Pictures has two films in production, Badhaai Do, starring Rajkummar Rao and Bhumi Pednekar, and Doctor G, starring Ayushmann Khuranna and Rakul Preet Singh.