Sudeep wins the battle with Shivanna

It was a controversy that should never have happened. However, it saw an early end with the good offices of the Karnataka Film Chamber of Commerce (KFCC) coming to the rescue.
Two films, starring Shivarajkumar and Sudeep, were announced with the same title, The Leader. The makers of the Shivarajkumar film had claimed that it was actually, The Leader Shivarajkumar.But the producer of the Sudeep film cited KFCC rules which state that a title with only an additional prefix or suffix of another registered title cannot be used.
On Monday, the controversy ended with Tarun Shivappa, the producer of the Shivarajkumar film changing his film's title to Mass Leader and retaining the suffix 'Shivarajkumar' to it.
Swaraj Sahana, who directed Tarun's previous film Rose, is directing this film, besides writing the story and dialogues. Tarun has roped in Hardhik Gowda as a partner in producing the film.
“It is a big-budget film and will be one of the biggest in the industry in terms of scale and production. One more younger star will be in the cast apart from three leading ladies. The shooting will start in January and Shivanna has already given his approval to the screenplay.“
The title Mass Leader was registered by writer Ajay Kumar who agreed to hand it over to Tarun. “He too wanted to make a film with Shivanna with this title. But he agreed to give it to us out of goodwill,“ said Tarun. However, the controversy could be far from over. In a latenight development, producer Raghunath, who is making the film The Leader with Sudeep, announced that he will move court against the new title given to Tarun's film.