Note to Prannoy Roy –

The only spice that Bollywood has been able to concoct in recent times would amount to plagiarism scams that the actors and directors of Bollywood are trying desperately to hush up, shove under the rug. Plagiarism should not be a phenomenon in Bollywood in the twenty-first century. Most of the scripts Bollywood sells to the public are borrowed and copied. Bollywood seldom has content that is original. What is the excuse for this in the twenty-first century? We do not see such a phenomenon in any other film industry in the world. It is something native to Bollywood. Why Bollywood chooses such a peculiar identity for itself is an important question to be asked. Plagiarism in Bollywood in the twenty-first century has involved copied content from Shakuntala Devi, Jean-Luc Godard and Anna Karina, to name only a few. The latest plagiarist debacle is the plagiarism of Johnny Depp and ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’. This is the most obvious form of plagiarism to Indians. ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’ is such a widely viewed film across the globe that anyone who has been exposed to the original classic can easily identify a plagiarized version. Amir Khan’s latest film, ‘Thugs of Hindostan’, is a copy of the Johnny Depp cult classic, ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’. The very obvious nature of the copy can be identified with just one viewing of the trailer for the film. One need not even view the film to be able to identify the source that Amir Khan has plagiarized from. Anybody can identify this source. Even before the release of the film, the source can be identified with zero hesitation on the part of the general people of India. Amir Khan’s act of plagiarism is so obvious this time that even the President of the United States and Johnny Depp himself are aware of the problem. If such an obvious act of plagiarism has been committed, something that even the President of the United States and Johnny Depp know of, then is it not the duty of journalists to report more on plagiarism at the moment? Post the release of the trailer for ‘Thugs of Hindostan’, plagiarism is the dominant theme of interest in Bollywood. That is the only topic of interest at the moment. We finally have a moment in Amir Khan’s career where he himself has entirely punctured his self-declared reputation as a unique thinker, an innovative thinker. Everyone knows for a fact now that Amir Khan is a plagiarist. No longer can Amir Khan don the garb of creative ingenuity, of original thinking. He himself has bust his own cover before the public. He himself has revealed once and for all who he truly is as a film maker to the public. His career now stands at a crossroad for he will now have to approach the public with his true nature. He has lost the option of presenting himself under a fake guise. Amir Khan has orchestrated his own destruction.

Is this the only act of plagiarism in Bollywood? After the greatest director of all time, French director Jean-luc Godard, was plagiarized by Deepika Padukone, Amitabh Bacchan, Irfan Khan and Shoojit Sircar in the cinematic mold of ‘Piku’, we have a great travesty in the world of international cinema. Plagiarizing the likes of Godard and the actor who played the characters he scripted, Anna Karina, is a crime in cinema. Godard is the greatest director of all time. He is classified amongst geniuses. Cannes is very aware that Godard and Karina have been plagiarized by Bollywood as is the President of the United States of America. Godard and Karina know of this fact themselves. Why has such a gross act of plagiarism in the twenty-first century not been covered in more detail by journalists? If such facts are known by important people, there is no reason why average people should be barred from these facts. People have a right to know. People want to know the big bad truth out in the world. How will people know the truth if journalists do not report it? Not that journalists in India do not do a brilliant job otherwise, at least those not accused of sexual harassment do. Still, there is not enough coverage of the behind-the-scenes workings of Bollywood. Since Amir Khan’s plagiarism of Johnny Depp is now out in the open, it needs to be covered by journalists in detail. Amir Khan’s previous acts of plagiarism such as ‘Taare Zamein Par’ taken from Shakuntala Devi, one of the greatest mathematicians of all time, need to be covered in detail. Since Amitabh Bacchan is surviving in the film industry of Mumbai in the twenty-first century solely on the credit of borrowed content, then that needs to be covered in more detail. His films, ‘Piku’ and ‘Thugs of Hindostan’ are both copied scripts with copied concepts and characters. Since this is Bacchan’s only means of staying afloat in Bollywood in the twenty-first century, the facts need to be put out to the public. This is news. This is good news. Why are journalists not covering good news? Shakuntala Devi grew up in a life of dire poverty and was forced to witness the death of her sister at a tender age as her family could not afford a doctor’s consultation. Shakuntala Devi grew up to be one of the greatest mathematicians of all time. Then, Amir Khan came along and plagiarized a children’s book she wrote and made hundreds of crores out of that one exploitative act of plagiarism. This is exactly the kind of story that journalists run after. Why is this story not being covered in detail, especially after Amir Khan has exposed himself to the public as a plagiarist? Shouldn’t Amir Khan’s current and previous works of plagiarism all be covered? People will want to know this now that one of their most loved films, ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’ has been plagiarized by Amir Khan. No one will believe Amir Khan anymore when he makes grandiose claims to originality and genius.

Bollywood has turned into the plagiarist capital of the world. This is no new trend by any means in the Indian film industry. As far back as Raj Kapoor, the Indian film industry has profited off of completely plagiarized versions of Charlie Chaplin, one of the greatest and most renowned actors to have been born. In the nineties, Indian television channels would cover plagiarism in Bollywood shot by shot. The plagiarized shots would be juxtaposed against the original from which it was copied exactly. Aishwarya’s Rai’s plagiarized version of the song ‘Nimbura’ was documented with real-life footage from the traditional musicians, poor salt-of-the-earth people, the song was stolen from. The original version of the song was taped, recorded and aired on television. The original musicians and their lives were broadcast for an entire hour on national television. Everyone who could access television was aware of the plagiarism that was taking place in Bollywood at that time owing to the efforts of such television studios. Everyone was aware of Raj Kapoor being a Charlie Chaplin clone. Now, everyone is aware that Amir Khan is yet another in the long row of Indian cinema plagiarists. The facts have come to light. However, it is the job of news channels and television studios to expose the other acts of plagiarism taking place. The media has exposed such acts in diverse and explicit detail previously. Similar exposures need to be made in the light of the release of the trailer of ‘Thugs of Hindostan’ Indians world wide will be expecting media coverage on various forms of plagiarism in Bollywood at the moment. Johnny Depp being plagiarized is just as obvious to people as Charlie Chaplin’s plagiarism was. People are not fools. They need to hear more about the stories around them. They know what is happening in the world. They want more depth in their knowledge of the world. Isn’t it about time that the Indian media broke its silence on plagiarism in Bollywood in the twenty-first century?