A UAE based NRI Moidutty filed a complaint in the Additional Sessions Court , Eranakulam against the release of the film , stating that the director Salim Ahmed plagiarised his story titled ' Swapnageham ' . In July 2015 , the release of the film was stayed by the Ernakulam Additional Sessions Court . Salim Ahamed reacted to the allegation saying " It is said to be that about three people have come up with similar claims , one from Irikkur , Kannur and another one who has conducted a press conference about it in Muscat . " The director also pointed out that his debut film '' Adaminte Makan Abu '' had also faced similar allegations , but it died down when the movie was released . " '' Pathemari '' will be felt for each NRI malayalis as their own story , but it is not about a single individual . We will try to solve the plagiarism issue legally , " said Salim . Later in an interview Salim Ahamed furthermore clarified the issue said : " Upon reading the story for clarification , I could see that the accuser 's own work is a plagiarized tale based on the story titled Swapnangalil Ninnu Swapnangalilekku Oru Kabir , written by T V Kochubava , decades ago . As we pointed it out , the court happened to check it and the observation was included in the final verdict , which was in our favour . We are continuing with the case as false allegations were made . " The film received positive reviews . It was reported that the film was among the five films shortlisted for India 's submission for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film , by the jury headed by Amol Palekar . Citing film director and jury member K. Madhu , '' Malayala Manorama '' reported that the film missed the submission to the Marathi film '' Court '' in the final round . However , Salim Ahamed talked about the news in an interview with '' The Times of India '' that , " I am a filmmaker who makes movies for the Malayali audience and tell stories of their lives , and those outside its realm are n't my focus group . Being considered for Oscars is good enough . " On 12 October , it was reported that the film has been selected to be screened under the category of ' Malayalam Cinema Today ' at the 20th edition of International Film Festival of Kerala , which is held at Thiruvananthapuram in December 2015
International Film Festival of Kerala
International Film Festival of Kerala
Pathemari