Plagiarism turns tool for publicity

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It’s become a trend of sorts for every big, eagerly awaited film to get embroiled in a controversy close to its release. But concocting a juicy story and teaming it up with a promotional strategy before release is passe, as now “plagiarism” seems to be the new publicity stunt. Recently, novelist Dayanand Raajan allegedly accused the writer

of Guzaarish of lifting the theme of his new book and using it as the plot for the film. He also said that the film’s storyline and characters are similar to his yet-to-be published novel.
In the past, many popular scripts and songs have been mired in similar controversy. Dabangg’s popular track Munni Badnaam Hui is allegedly a straight lift from a Pakistani song, similarly, Ibn-E-Batuta, a hit track from Ishqiya was reportedly said to be an improvisation of a poem by the late Hindi poet, Sarveshwar Dayal Saxena. Recently, many reputed directors have faced plagiarism allegations including Mani Shankar for his film Knock Out, which is alleged to be a “copy” of Hollywood film Phone Booth. Director Sajid Khan even paid `3.5m for his film Housefull, which reportedly faced charges of being a direct copy of the film Kaadhalaa Kaadhalaa.
Scriptwriter Ranjan K. Ghosh feels that plagiarism is being used as a tool by filmmakers to bolster their films and also by new writers to promote their work. “Plagiarism in a way benefits both sides. For instance, recently Prakash Jha allegedly accused a news channel for using his new film’s name (Aarakshan), as the title of their show. The accusations created hype for both Prakash Jha’s film and the new TV show, even before the promos were out. The same happened with Chetan Bhagat’s Five Point Someone. It’s hard to say whether these cases are pre-planned or genuine. But such practices are annoying and only mirror the insecurity and lack of confidence among artistes for their production,” Ranjan adds.
Seconds director Onir Onirban, who reportedly faced plagiarism allegations for one of the tracks of his film Sorry Bhai. He feels that it’s sad that such tactics are being used by some eager beavers, just to tarnish the image of reputed artistes. “Any publicity is good publicity. These cases might be a part of paid news or a planned game to rubbish the image of a known personality in public for their own personal interest. I can say that such hype doesn’t last long. And cases that might be genuine are often sorted out amicably, outside court,” he adds.
But screenplay writer Pubali Chaudhary of Rock On fame begs to differ. She says, “I don’t feel such things exist in the industry at all. Whether it’s a film or any literary work, why would anybody kickstart a promotion with negative publicity? However, I feel that the film industry requires a transparent and standardised contract process to be signed among filmmakers and scriptwriters, before starting any new project. Bollywood has a culture where mostly things work by word of mouth publicity. Proper rights and guidelines under the Copyright Act will help reduce such unpleasant issues in the industry.”