Gaurav Dubey (MID-DAY; August 26, 2014)

It is said that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery but Bollywood seems to be taking the adage too seriously. A plotline here, a character there and a song somewhere else — many Hindi films have courted controversy for allegedly copying scripts, concepts, music and even posters from various sources, all in the name of ‘inspiration’. Worse still, many filmmakers do not believe in acknowledging or giving credit to the makers of the original.

The latest film facing allegations of plagiarism is the Rani Mukerji- starrer, Mardaani, which released last Friday. Director Mrityunjay Devvrat has has reportedly accused Yash Raj Films of lifting a few scenes from his critically acclaimed film, Children of War.

“Mardaani shares many similarities with my film, including the concept. Scenes such as the one where women are hauled into a truck, segregated and then hosed down with a pipe bear a striking resemblance with sequences from my film. I don’t mind people copying because it has been happening in the industry for a long time now. I am flattered that people are copying from my film. But what hurts me the most is that new directors and their small-budget films don’t get appreciated. We all know that there are a few big production houses which run the industry and they just want to make movies for money. They are not at all concerned about the society and what they show on the big screen,” says Mrityunjay.



He also accuses production houses of being low on creativity. “They have to make a film within a certain time frame, which leaves little room for creativity. They have money but are highly incompetent. Cinema as an art is dying,” he adds.

As someone who has been accused of lifting tunes from other composers, music director Pritam knows a thing or two about plagiarism and related territory. “In the beginning of my career, I indulged in it on account of various reasons. Back then, such things were taken lightly and everyone in the industry was doing the same. But then I realised that it is not good thing and that it had left me in a mess. I have suffered so much because of this; most of my original work was also questioned. People would crack jokes about me and gossip about me; nobody wants that,” he says.

The music composer says that on many occasions, he has been falsely accused of plagiarism. “I think that plagiarism is no longer rampant because people are more aware about these things now. As a victim of plagiarism myself, I understand that it’s the worst thing to happen in the industry,” he adds.

Bollywood has long been a remake machine, blatantly copying Hollywood blockbusters and adding a dash of desi spice to suit the taste of the audiences here. And the plagiarism laws in the country are not quite stringent enough, though there has been an effort, of late, to make them stricter.

Vikram Bhatt, who was also accused of plagiarism in his film, Dangerous Isshq, believes there are two sides to the coin. “It’s a very debatable thing. There are many people for whom remakes are a moneymaking scheme. I am not saying that we don’t have plagiarism in the industry. But it’s a financial issue, not a creative one. For instance, a scriptwriter alleged that my film, Dangerous Isshq, was based on his script. The fact is that I had registered the film’s script much before he had. For these people, it’s about extracting money from reputed banners under the garb of plagiarism. Thankfully, we now have stringent copyright laws and if you do plagiarise, you have to pay a fat penalty.”

Producer-director Mahesh Bhatt defends the industry’s copying habits. “The human brain is not a creative den, it’s a recycle den. There’s no creativity left in the industry. People accused me of plagiarising from the film, It Happened One Night, when my film, Dil Hai Ki Manta Nahi, was out. But the fact is that there’s a big difference between the two films. Also, I believe in reverse engineering. You take a film, work on it and then come up with something new. Saying that every film is plagiarised is exaggeration. There has been some extraordinary work in this industry. I believe you always have to steal — either from someone or from your own life. If you steal it from someone then it’s plagiarism and if you steal it from your life, it’s a masterpiece,” he says.

MID-DAY (May 27, 2014)

Often actors are forced to step out of their comfort zone. That’s exactly what happened to Pawan Malhotra when he was shooting for Mrityunjay Devvrat’s recently released film, Children of War.

Based on the atrocities that led to the liberation of Bangladesh, this war drama has Malhotra playing a rapist. His character is that of a Pakistani Army officer who is deployed in Dhaka and he decides to rape Bangladeshi women in order to ‘impregnate them with Pakistani children’. In one such sequence, his character rapes Fida (played by Raima Sen).

Malhotra recounts that executing scenes of such an atrocity was not something he was comfortable doing. “I took on a role in this film because it is about history. It is a heart-wrenching tale that saddens you. As a Pakistani army officer, my character kills and rapes at will. I know people will hate me. But doing that role wasn’t easy. I have just tried to do justice to my role. We wanted to show how inhuman humans can be at times,” he says.

Director Devvrat says, “The idea was to repulse the audiences to an extent where they can never forgive such criminals.”

BOMBAY TIMES (May 10, 2014)

The forthcoming film Children Of War, which revolves around Bangladesh’s fight for freedom, shows how Pakistani soldiers used rape as a weapon. Raima Sen and Tillotama Shome, who play the female leads, say shooting for those scenes was a harrowing experience for them.

“I felt fear surge through my body. It was one of the toughest scenes I have shot,” says Raima. Tillotama adds, “It’s not easy to prepare for a rape scene. At the same time, it’s not difficult for any woman in India to understand that fear. We live it every day.”

Director Mrityunjay Devvrat agrees, saying, “The sequences will send shivers down the viewers’ spines. We want to make it so repulsive that no one even entertains the thought of pardoning rapists, let alone commit the crime. The shoot took its toll on all of us.”

The film also stars Victor Banerjee, Pavan Malhotra, Indraneil Sengupta, Riddhi Sen, newcomers Rucha and Shatrunjay and the late Farooq Shaikh.

Children Of War, produced by Pencil Cell Movies, releases May 16.

Asira Tarannum (MID-DAY; May 6, 2014)

Producer-director Ashuu Trikha’s upcoming film, Koyelaanchal, that stars Suniel Shetty and Vinod Khanna, has been facing troubles. Trikha had to get the film’s posters and publicity material re-done as the Association of Motion Pictures and Television Programme Producers (AMPTPP) objected to a line in the posters. It seems that AMPTPP didn’t want the line ‘Sabse bada mafia Bharat sarkaar hai’ to be included in the film’s posters.

Asshu Trikha says, “If AMPTPP does not approve of the publicity material, then the producer can’t apply for a censor certificate. AMPTPP told me that I either remove the line or give it in writing that if someone raises an objection or creates legal trouble, I shall be solely responsible. I had no choice but to make the changes.”

Actor Suniel Shetty, who plays a district collector in the film, says, “It is very sad that objections are being raised even though people haven’t watched the film. Nobody stands up for us and these associations continue to raise objections.” hitlist looks at other films that faced similar issues due to the opposition of organisations other than the censor board.

Title tussles
Phantom, that stars Saif Ali Khan and Katrina Kaif, is supposed to be a cross-country film with the plot spanning India, Lebanon, USA and UK. In the film, Saif plays a character that goes by the name Daniyal Khan and this was also the film’s working title. The makers were apparently told by some religious organisations that the film’s name was insensitive to the minority community. As a result, it was changed to Phantom.

Similarly, Indian Motion Pictures Producers Association (IMMPA) raised objections to Mritunjay Devvrat’s film, The Bastard Child. The director then had to change it to Children of War. “No scene had to be cut, but I had to change the name. I went by their decision, as I wish to complete all formalities and release the film as soon as possible. In India and Bangladesh, it will release as Children of War. The original title will stay the same abroad,” Mritunjay recently said in an interview.

In September 2013, the Akal Takht, the highest temporal body of the Sikhs, objected to a film titled Singh Sahib the Great. The organisation pointed out that using the words ‘ Singh Sahib’ in a film’s film was disrespectful. In the end, makers released the film as Singh Saab the Great.

Another instance is when salon and beauty parlour associations were up in arms against Shah Rukh’s production, then titled Billu Barber. With the association raising objections to the use of the word ‘barber’, SRK’s production house then decided to drop the word ‘ barber’ from the title in its pre- release promotional campaigns.

Scenes under attack
The Tamil Nadu government banned Kamal Haasan’s film, Vishwaroopam, as it feared law and order problems in the light of opposition by a few Muslim groups. Muslim groups said that the film portrayed Muslims as terrorists. Kamal Hassan finally had to delete seven scenes from his film and some scenes were also muted.

In a similar fashion, Ajay Devgn had to remove some scenes from Son of Sardaar as they were deemed offensive by Sikh community leaders. He even screened the film for community leaders from the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee in Amritsar after objections were raised regarding controversial dialogue and imagery in the film’s trailer.

In 2009, Kaminey’s makers faced troubles when Jagannath Sena Sangathan filed an FIR (First Information Report) against them at a police station in Puri. The organisation was upset about the line ‘ Apna Haath Jagannath’ being written on a poster showing a scantily clad woman on the wall of a public toilet. The objectionable portion of the scene was then removed from the prints that were released in Orissa.

Bharati Dubey (MID-DAY; December 27, 2013)

The Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) has asked producer-director Mritunjay Devvrat to change the title of his film The B***** d Child. In all likelihood, it may be renamed Children of War — Nine Months To Freedom.

A source says, “The censor panel feels the title is abusive towards a child. They have issued a showcause notice to the producer to change it.’’ An official from the Censor Board states, “ We examined the film and red- flagged the title as it is derogatory for a child. We have asked the producer to remove it from the title.”

Devvrat however maintains, “We are still in talks with the Censor Board. We have not been informed about any change in the title. This is the first time I am hearing it.” Adds the filmmaker, “The Censor Board is doing exactly what we are telling society not to do. They are not just banning a name, they are indicating to society that these children should be banned and disallowed. My film will still be called The B***** d Child for all purposes except for the formalities that require the approval of people who do not understand or care.’’ He plans to release the film internationally with the original title.

The film is based on the 1971 Bangladesh genocide where thousands of women were raped and the resulting illegitimate children during the Indo- Pak war for the liberation of Bangladesh.

Incidentally, Devvrat had been keen on the title ever since he registered it with the Indian Motion Picture Producers Association ( IMPPA).

T P Aggarwal, president, IMPPA says, “We had been asking the producer to change the title, but as he was adamant we cleared the title. When the CBFC objected, he came back to us and registered a new title Children of War— Nine Months To Freedom.’’

The film stars Pawan Malhotra, Victor Banerjee, Farooq Shaikh, Raima Sen and Indraneil Sengupta.