Mumbai, June 24: A 20 minute sensation, internet movie Kriti is under fire, although, film director Shirish Kunder has dismissed allegations that his short movie “Kriti” is a copy of a Nepali short film.
Nepali film-maker Aneel Neupane openly claimed that Mr. Shirish Kunder stole his plot and made it into his short film.
Neupane claimed that his psychological-thriller – ‘Bob’ was financed by Tejaswee Rajthala of Jazz Productions based in Australia – with a constrained budget of NRS. 50,000 (32,000 INR).
A Facebook post by Neupane, said Kunder “practically stole the plot” of his film.
The post read: “My name is Aneel Neupane and I’m a filmmaker. My team at Jazz Productions and I worked super hard to make our latest release BOB…
“I’m angry not because Mr. Shirish Kunder practically stole the plot and made it into his film. I’m angry because we didn’t even have lunch money while shooting ‘Bob’, and a spotboy for ‘Kriti’ probably made more money than Bob’s entire budget.
“My team and I didn’t work our asses off just so some rich dude from India could turn it into this and get away with it. That’s just not fair.”
After the claims caught attention on digital platforms, Kunder, who is married to filmmaker Farah Khan, took to Twitter to settle the matter.
Kunder tweeted: “To those comparing ‘Kriti’ with some short film released on May 12, 2016. ‘Kriti’ was shot in February, 2016. Hope this settles the matter.”
Neupane alleges that his film was ready in October 2015 and he uploaded it on Vimeo “as a private video to share it with close friends” before releasing it on YouTube on May 12, this year.
Addressing this allegation, Kunder said: “About their claims of a private Vimeo link shared with close friends on October 2015. I’m not even their friend. Let alone close friend.”
However, Neupane introduced a positive aspect to the issue:
“On the plus side: In today’s Movie Industry, so many Nepali films are being made that are “inspired” from Bollywood…
“And my film was able to inspire A-Class Bollywood actors and filmmakers. I think that’s a win for Nepal. It’s nice to know that a smalltime rookie filmmaker from Nepal was able to inspire Big Time director and actors in Bollywood”.
In “Kriti”, Manoj Bajpayee is seen suffering from a psychological disorder, while Radhika Apte and Neha Sharma play crucial roles with Manu Rishi also essaying a role. The film is for the online platform muvizz.com but has been uploaded on Youtube as well.
“Kriti”, an 18-minute short film, was released online on June 22. The film is getting rave responses from members of the film fraternity and critics alike. Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal also appreciated director Kunder.
Write to me with your conclusions, RV – r.venugopal@bharattimes.com
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