‘Yes’, says insider, ‘No’, say Dear Zindagi makers, about being served a legal notice for copyright infringement
Upala KBR (DNA; December 12, 2016)

Gauri Shinde has denied reports of her Dear Zindagi being a replica of the Canadian comedy-drama TV series Being Erica before and still does, but according to an insider, “the producers of the series, Temple Street Productions have sent a legal notice to Karan Johar’s Dharma Productions for copyright infringement.”

Says a source, “Karan and the Dharma CEO, Apoorva Mehta were not aware that DZ was inspired in such detail from the Canadian show. Meanwhile, Gauri maintains her script is original, but the similarities are too glaring to go unnoticed. Gauri Khan, who is also one of the producers, and the makers are now trying to figure how to sort it out amicably. This is the first time that Dharma, which has a clean reputation, has faced a plagiarism charge.”

When asked about the legal notice, Dharma CEO Apoorva Mehta said, “It’s not true... We haven’t received anything at all.”

Dear Zindagi director Gauri Shinde slams reports of the film being a replica of a Canadian show
Mohar Basu (MID-DAY; December 6, 2016)

In the last few days, reports of Gauri Shinde’s second directorial venture Dear Zindagi being a ‘replica’ of Canadian television series Being Erica have surfaced. Parallels were drawn between Alia Bhatt’s Kiara and Erica (played by Erin Karpluck), and her dimaag ka doctor played by Shah Rukh Khan is said to have been inspired by Dr Tom (played by Michael Ray). Even the dialogues like ‘har tooti hui cheez jodi ja sakti hai’ have been likened to Dr Tom’s ‘whatever it is that you are unhappy about, I can fix it’. Kiara’s boyfriends played by Angad Bedi and Ali Zafar, too, can be found in the series, the former ‘too good to be dumped’ named Ethan and the latter, ‘a charming musician’ named Kai who woos Erica in front of scores of people. However, unlike the series, the film doesn’t take the time travel route. The parallels were too glaring to go unnoticed.

However, when hitlist got in touch with Gauri, she was taken aback by the rumours. “Huh? I don’t even know what series you are talking about. But, yes, it is a good try on the part of whoever wants to bring this movie [Dear Zindagi] down. Why don’t people watch the show, since I haven’t, and decide for themselves? I don’t read rubbish. There is so much baseless crap out there and I can’t respond to everything,” she responded via text message.

Of course, it is déjà vu for Gauri — when her first film, English Vinglish (2012), which marked Sridevi’s comeback to the screen after almost 15 years, had released, similar reports had emerged. It was said to be an outtake of Mind Your Language, the successful late 70s television series about a motley group of people learning English.

Recalling the rumours, the director retorts, “Trust me, people are never happy with others’ success. They tried to do the same with English Vinglish. But, all this doesn’t bother me at all.”