The tussle between Indian American author Chitra B. Divakaruni and the makers of TV show Mera Naseeb has taken a new turn.

Chitra had earlier alleged that the show has “stolen“ its plot from her novel Sister Of My Heart and threatened legal action (Mirror, September 27). Now Manish Goswami, the producer of hit TV shows like Kitty Party, Sarrkkar and Aashirwad, has joined Chitra's side in the fight. The reason: Chitra had sold the TV rights of the same book to Goswami.

Goswami told Mirror, “I almost fell off the chair when I saw Mera Naseeb. I bought the rights and I'm making a show based on the novel with Chitra's permission. I had completed the pre-production work and am in talks with a channel that has shown keen interest in the subject.“

Mera Naseeb was first aired on the Pakistani channel Hum TV on April 1, 2011. The writer of the show, Samira Fazal, even won an award for the screenplay. It is currently being aired on an Indian TV channel, Zindagi.

“I should have been the first to tell that story on Indian television. This is nothing short of copyright infringement,“ raged Goswami.

Since the controversy broke out last week, Chitra has been in touch with Goswami, who has received a mail from the author's manager stating, “As the current rights holder, would you approach the producer first to tell them to cease and desist? I'll write in as well to support the fact that we have a license.“

Added Goswami, “We have to fight this out. I have informed the broadcasters in question that they should pull the show off air.“
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Bharati Dubey (MID-DAY; September 29, 2014)

Television producer Manish Goswami has sent a letter to Zindagi channel alleging that Mera Naseeb, a TV show that they have been airing for a while now, is in fact, a copy of Sister of My Heart, a novel by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni.

Goswami, who has bought the rights to the novel, Sister of My Heart, says, “When I saw the promo of the serial on Zindagi, I sensed that it is the same story, but I waited for a few episodes to be telecast before deciding to take action. By then, I had received a mail from Divakaruni’s rights manager, Andrea Cavallaro. She has written in her email, ‘It’s quite troublesome to see this show on air. As the current rights holder, would you approach the producer first to tell them to cease and desist? Since we don’t have any contact information and hoping you can get it’.”

It may be pointed out that Divakaruni has already lashed out against this alleged plagiarism on social media; now Goswami has sent a letter to the channel. He alleges that this is a case of copyright infringement. “I am already in advance talks with a channel with regards to the same subject and this will damage my chances. So I expect Zindagi to take the show off air immediately,” he says.

He adds that he has had the rights to the book since 2011, when the show was telecast on Pakistan’s Hum TV. “The show’s writer, Samira Fazal, apparently lives in the USA and if the original writer, Divakaruni, sues her, it will cause huge damage to her. Even I can take action against her,” he says.

The book, Sister of My Heart, tells the story of two Indian girls, Anju and Sudha, and it dwells on family traditions and bonding even as the protagonists move from childhood to adulthood. The book’s sequel is called Vine of Desire. Zindagi channel’s spokesperson refused to comment on the story.