Kajol starrer ‘Devi’ accused of plagiarism

Priyanka Banerjee, writer and director of the short film ‘Devi’ starring Kajol, Neha Dhupia, Shruti Haasan, is being accused of plagiarism. According to Abhishek Rai, the story is eerily similar to his short film ‘Four’, which he wrote, directed and edited as a student of the Asian Academy of Film and Television in Noida.

Rai posted the statement on Facebook, “Here’s something I’d like to bring to everybody’s notice. We at AndaKurry Productions, made a short film when we were in film school, 2 years back called ‘Four’ that dealt with a premise of rape victims sitting together in a room when a new victim arrives. And yesterday, a film named ‘Devi’ was uploaded to LargeShortFilms’s YouTube channel that has heavy resemblance and the premise is also of the film we made. Of course our film was a student film, with very little production design, bad audio and stuff, but still it’s a child of our own imagination and it’s ruthless how anyone can just pick up a piece of thought and claim it to be theirs. The film is an intellectual property of Asian Academy of Film & Television.”, Hindustan Times reported.

He also appealed to students, faculty and the public to help him fight for justice. “Now, I have not been contacted by Large Short Films or the makers of the film regarding any kind of query. This saddens me and I’d want your support to be heard so we can take action against the makers and the platform. Thank you.”, Rai said, adding that, “Please watch both the films and see for yourself.”

Both ‘Four’ and ‘Devi’ are available to stream on YouTube.