Filmmaker Sujoy Ghosh has opened up about the legal troubles surrounding his 2016 film 'Kahaani 2: Durga Rani Singh', admitting that he never anticipated a plagiarism allegation would escalate into a decade-long criminal case. He urged fellow creators to address such matters with seriousness from the very beginning.
Sujoy Ghosh Recalls the Beginning of the Controversy
Speaking at an event organized by the Screenwriters Association (SWA), Ghosh revealed that the controversy started shortly after the release of the Vidya Balan-starrer. Writer Robin Bhatt informed him that a man was accusing him of plagiarizing his script. Initially dismissing the allegation as baseless, Ghosh admitted that his casual response proved costly. 'It’s like somebody saying, “You killed that person”, I was like, “I haven’t” and why should I take it seriously, and that was my biggest mistake. Suddenly, I get a criminal case against me because IP in our country is a criminal case. So, if I accuse you of (plagiarising), you can file a criminal case against me. It came out of nowhere. Initially, I didn’t take it seriously. It’s like a slow burn, which starts gathering momentum and the fight goes bigger and before you know it, it has hit you,' the filmmaker said during a session on disputes within the screenwriting community.
Last month, the Supreme Court quashed the proceedings in a copyright infringement case against Ghosh over 'Kahaani 2', stating that the complaint contained only 'bald and unsubstantiated allegations'.
Details of the Plagiarism Claim
Umesh Prasad Mehta, the complainant, claimed he had written a script titled 'Sabak' and accused Ghosh of infringing his copyright by allegedly using it to create 'Kahaani 2', the sequel to the 2012 hit 'Kahaani' starring Vidya Balan.
Ghosh Describes the Legal Battle as 'Scary'
Calling the prolonged legal battle 'scary', Ghosh said the situation grew more complicated as the writer made several claims, including alleged meetings with him that never took place. '...I hadn’t met this gentleman and he said he met me and gave me a script and that I sent some a thug to his place. I didn’t know where all this is coming from. I had a hard time proving that I haven’t met him,' he recounted.
The filmmaker, known for movies like 'Jhankar Beats' and 'Badla', credited the SWA's Dispute Settlement Committee, which reviewed both scripts and found no connection between them, with helping his case.
Relief from the Supreme Court
Ghosh said he was initially unaware of the internal verdict, as the complainant had already taken legal action against him. 'When I found about the SWA verdict, I gave a copy of it to the Supreme Court and when it went through the whole thing, thankfully, things were on my side and I was given a clean chit by the court. It is quite a nightmare; it went on for about ten years. (But) there are many people suffering with you. The hardest part is to keep quiet, like you can’t discuss the case with anybody in the fear that if it comes out in the open, especially in today’s time when there’s social media, we’ve to be careful as we trialled by people who don’t know what it is about,' he said.
Ghosh's Advice to Creators
Ghosh advised fellow writers and filmmakers to approach such allegations with caution from the start. 'The biggest mistake I made was that I took it very lightly; I didn’t give the seriousness it deserved because I didn’t do anything. So, there’s no point thinking that you’re innocent. Fighting an unknown person in Jharkhand is not easy,' he said.
The session, titled 'Samvaad Se Samjhauta', was also attended by Jyoti Kapoor, known for 'Badhaai Ho', who opened up about her own plagiarism dispute, alleging that her script was used in Kunal Kohli’s 'Phir Se'. In 2015, the Supreme Court noted similarities between the two.
Jyoti Kapoor Recalls Emotional Impact
Kapoor said the emotional impact of the ordeal lingers even now. 'I was going through my judgment; I realised that it is going to be 11 years next month and one would think you've moved on and that it doesn't trigger you anymore but I read it and it all came back to me. It was one hell of a year,' she said. She recalled discovering the alleged plagiarism after pitching her script to multiple filmmakers, including Kohli, with whom negotiations had fallen through. 'I read an excerpt about the story in the media and I knew it is my story. My producers sourced the script from someone and I was 101 percent sure it was my story,' she said.
Despite securing the SWA verdict in her favour, Kapoor said she had to deal with public backlash and a defamation case during the dispute. 'While the case was going on I couldn't afford paid publicity and he could. I read it in a newspaper, which said that, "She is a publicity hungry writer", nobody bothered to reach out to me. That's when I wrote an angry post on social media because I was helpless as somebody was maligning me. That post went viral and I got a lot of support from my peers, writers, directors, and producers, the moral support at that time was important,' she said.
