It was like one battle after another, and winning this case was like winning an Oscar” – that’s how Sujoy Ghosh describes his decade-long battle in court over the plagiarism accusations against his film Kahaani 2: Durga Rani Singh (2016) . Now, after the case was quashed last month, he is revisiting the ordeal.

At a discussion hosted by the Screenwriters Association in Mumbai, Ghosh recalled the nightmare that the case caused.

Ghosh, who wrote and directed the film, said the complainant had first approached the SWA, which found no connection between the two scripts. He then went to court, allegedly concealing this. Ghosh said he discovered the SWA verdict later after missing the email and submitted it in court, adding that the complainant was a serial litigator.

He shared, “In 2016, we had just released Kahaani 2: Durga Rani Singh, which is the sequel to Kahaani, and Robin da (Robin Bhatt), who was part of the SWA, called me and said, ‘ Arey tune kuch kiya kya?’ I said, ‘What did I do?’ He said, ‘There is a gentleman who is accusing you of copying his script.’ I didn’t take it seriously because I had not. So I said, ‘No, I didn’t,’ and I gave all my details to Robin da.”

He explained, “I didn’t realize it. I didn’t take it seriously because it’s like somebody tells you, ‘you killed that person.’ ‘No, I haven’t!’ Why should I take it seriously? And that was my biggest mistake. And then suddenly, I had a criminal case against me because IP in our country is treated as a criminal case. So if I accuse you of plagiarizing – and that’s a big word – then a criminal case can be filed. Initially, I didn’t take it seriously. It’s like a little snowball that starts gathering momentum. It piles up, grows bigger, and before you realize it – boom! It has hit you. I was like, ‘yeh kya ho raha hai?’ It was one battle after another. It kept growing. The Supreme Court also took a lot of time. And thanks to the court, we got a judgment stating that whenever someone accuses another of copying any work, certain steps must be followed before making such a claim.”

After Kahaani 2 was released, a case of copyright violation was filed against writer-director Sujoy Ghosh. The complainant, Umesh Prasad Mehta, had written a script for the film Sabak. He alleged that Ghosh had copied that script for Kahaani 2. A criminal complaint followed, and a June 7, 2018 summoning order by the Chief Judicial Magistrate triggered a legal battle that lasted nearly a decade.

In March 2026, the SC quashed the copyright infringement case, noting that Ghosh’s script had prior registration and that the complaint was baseless. Ghosh told the SC that the complainant was a serial litigator. He added that the complainant had approached the SWA, which found no similarity between the scripts and cautioned the complainant, but he allegedly concealed this verdict before proceeding with the case. 

Writer Preeti Mamgain, who was hosting the session, and writer Jyoti Kapoor, then convenor of the SWA in Sujoy’s case, explained that regardless of who files a complaint – producer, director or writer – the SWA calls both parties. “We listen to both sides. Jo bhi verdict hota hai, we send it to both parties,” they said.

Mamgain added, “We have had cases where someone went directly to court, and the court sent the script to us.” Sujoy said, “The biggest mistake I made, which I would suggest to all fellow writers, was not taking it seriously. I didn’t give it the seriousness it deserved. There is no point in thinking you are safe because you know you are innocent.”