Kolkata: The director of ‘Quack Shankar' has leveled plagiarism charges against actor Vinay Pathak for conniving to lift its story for the upcoming web show titled ‘Gram Chikitsalay'. The ‘Quack Shankar' director had registered his screenplay with Screenplay Writers Association (SWA) in 2020 and has claimed to have shared the project deck with Pathak in 2021.

Raaj Shaandilyaa, along with partner Vimal Lahoti, had announced the Hindi film titled ‘Quack Shankar' in 2023 with Kolkata's Anindya Bikas Datta as the director. Lahoti told TOI that a legal notice (a copy of which is with TOI) has been served urging the makers of "Gram Chikitsalaya" to "not to make any such attempt to release, exhibit, exploit, stream, distribute" the series.

On Monday, Datta took to social media to substantiate his charges against Pathak with screenshots of his communications with Pathak. "While the story is mine, the screenplay is written by me and Biswabijoy Sen. It is based on the tussle between a quack and an MBBS doctor. However, he was interested in the lead role (quack) while we considered him for the MBBS doctor. Talks finally didn't materialise then. In 2023, I approached production house of Raaj Shaandilyaa and Vimal Lahoti. A renowned actor has shown interest in the lead role and talks are on with him," Datta told.

Pathak told TOI: "I am a hired actor in the series ‘Gram Chikitsalay' and that's the fact. All the other claims are now in the legal discussion. I'd leave it to that." He also mentioned that the legal team of the creators of the series is handling the issue.