Bollywood Films And Plagiarism
We all love watching Bollywood movies. Don’t we ? We all love the Trio Khans, Akki, and of course every one’s talking about Katrina – recently she was voted by an international magazine as India’s Sexiest Woman – something which I strongly disagree. And not to talk about Miss World/Miss Universe beauty pageants or the wax statues of Bollywood actors and actresses at Madame Tussauds museum – everyone (in India) is thinking that the whole world is embracing of what we are, not realizing that there is a serious lack of creativity in Bollywood.
Another thing, I still don’t get it – how the Academy Jury gave the Oscar to Slumdog Millionare ? I mean, The Dark Knight and Curious Case of Benjamin Button were too superior than Slumdog (even Kung Fu Panda was better than Slumdog). And the aftermath, the consequences in India – all the drama about giveaways to the actors from the slum – the TV channels yell “From Rags To Riches” and politicizing Jai Ho – which after all is an extremely ordinary song. Of course, A R Rahman deserved at lease one of those two Oscars that he got 
Here’s the thing. The Slumdog Millionare is NOT an Indian film after all. The lead – Dev Patel is from UK and Frieda Pinto is from Goa, India. Just because the movie caste Indian actors and was shot in India, why so much rush ? huh. Another fun fact – if the same movie was made in India by Indian directors, I bet it wouldn’t even run 10 days !
Is Bollywood a clone of Hollywood ?
Bollywood is the largest film producer in India and one of the largest in the world. The very term ‘Bollywood’ is a copy of the name ‘Hollywood’. BTW, I read this somewhere :
Take a Hollywood plot, sprinkle in cheesy song-and-dance numbers and pour in a gallon of melodrama. Shake well, and you’ve got a Bollywood movie.
And I believe, the above statement is a straight fact. Forget about buying the rights from the original makers, the Bollywood films here do not even give any credit or attribution to the source film. Consider the movie Ghajini which is all time highest-grossing Bollywood film with a whopping net gross of Rs. 117,48,22,756 ! – it draws inspiration from the Hollywood flick Memento.
The producers overseas would not even be aware that their material was being copied. Audiences may also not have been aware of the plagiarism since many audiences in India were unfamiliar with foreign films and music. There have been very few cases of film copyright violations taken to court because of serious delays in the legal process, and due to the long time they take to decide a case.
BollyCat website points out about the Oscar nominated movie Lagaan. Lagaan has the same story and same feel of Sly Stallone movie ‘Victory‘. Both follow a match between two sides: the oppressors and the oppressed. Lagaan follows a cricket match and how the local Indian villagers learn to play a totally foreign sport while in “Victory” French POWs scheme to escape from an Axis prison using their Soccer match with a Naxi team as a cover. Do you think that’s coincidence or is it plagiarism ?
Some of the Bollywood movies which are possible direct rip off or draw inspiration from or based on Hollywood movies :
Aitraaz - Disclosure
Baadshah - Nick of Time, Teen Agent, Rush Hour
Baazigar - A Kiss From Dying
Bachke Rehna Re Baba - Heartbreakers
Black - The Miracle Worker
Chachi 420 - Mrs. Doubtfire
Dostana - I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry
Ek Ajnabee - Man on Fire
Ghajini - Memento
Heyy Babyy - 3 Men and a Baby
Hum Tum - When Harry Met Sally
Judwaa - Twin Dragons
Kasoor - Jagged Edge
Koi Mil Gaya - E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial
Mujhse Shaadi Karogi - Anger Management & Meet the Parents
Munna Bhai MBBS - Patch Adams
Partner - Hitch
Raaz - What Lies Beneath
The Train - Derailed
Speed - Cellular & Nick Of Time
Zeher - Out of Time
This is just a bird’s eye view of what Bollywood has allegedly copied from Hollywood. Some of them borrow ideas from more than one films. Baadshah borrowed story line and scenes from Nick of Time, Teen Agent and Rush Hour. The legendary movie Sholay is said to have drawn inspiration from 4 Hollywood movies – but a major portion of the film Sholay draws inspiration from the English movie The Magnificent Seven which in turn is actually based on Akira Kurosawa’s Japanese classic, The Seven Samurai. This reminds of the saying – Copy from one, it’s plagiarism; copy from many, it’s research !
Mahesh Bhatt has said ,”If you hide the source, you’re a genius. There’s no such thing as originality in the creative sphere”. Unfortunately, the sources aren’t hidden any more.
And the recent one – Karan Johar’s Dostana borrows the concept from the movie I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry. Before people in India saw Dostana, most of them never knew that there existed something such as gay. How does that sound ?
On the other hand, the Television industry in India seems to be on the same track. Here are some famous TV Shows that are clones of the Western ones :
KBC - Who wants to be a millionare ?
Kya Aap Pancchvi Paas Se Tez Ho - Are you smarter than a fifth grader ?
Dus Ka Dum - Power of 10
Indian Idol - American Idol
Bigg Boss - Big Brother
Karishma Ka Karishma - Small Wonder
<sarcasm>Nevertheless, we all love watching Bollywood movies. Don’t we ?</sarcasm>
Though, all of the story makers in India claim that all these allegations of plagiarism are all mere events of coincidence, the Hollywood big guys obviously are not buying that shit. Neither should you.
More……
[Visit Hall Of Shame at Plagiarism Archive]
[Visit Bollycat]
Really enjoyed the reading and the research was good enough. Keep it up.
thanks
Lagaan is not a copy of Victory. Just because there is a match in both does not mean it is a copy. By that logic every romantic film should be romeo and juliet. Nor is Munnabhai MBBS a copy. It is a far superior film than Patch Adams. Also if it was a copy Hollywood would have not bought the rights to make it all over again in english.
I never ever mentioned that those movies are copy. I just pointed out that there are similarities. It’s upto the readers to decide
IMO, Lagaan could be an original piece work. But about Munna Bhai, it was all over news papers back then that it “draws inspiration” from Patch Adams. I never said that it was a copy.
If I were to give a example of exact copy, I would say-
The Train is an exact replica of Derailed.
Being creative and being constructively active, let us say creactive(to be added to the dictionary), deserve all respect. You are on the way.
Promising aptitude of social criticism and sensibility.
Best.
nice man nice gathering
You r right about the fact that “if the Slumdog Millionaire was made in India by Indian directors, I bet it wouldn’t even run 10 days ” coz ppl like u love to spend their money only on movies featuring SUPERSTARS. Movies like SM is not for u dude. I m not surprised that u enjoyed Kung fu Panda more than SM.
Another thing. Before u accuse Koi Mil Gaya of getting “inspired” from E.T., let it be reminded that the basic storyline of E.T. was adapted for our very own Satyajit Ray’s short story Bankababur Bandhu which he had written in 1967 for a bengali daily. Steven Speilberg adapted the idea for his movie from that short story and made a full length feature film on it. And then there’s even the movie “The Dirty Dozen” which was adapted from “Do aankhen Barah Hath” by V. Shantaram.
I m not defending the plagiarism in Indian movies in any way but if u want to write an article about something, make sure you make a detailed analysis into that subject so that u don’t end up looking like a frustrated fool desparate for some publicity.
Where did the SUPERSTARS thing come from ? huh. I watch all kind of movies and I don’t give a shit whether the cast are legends or not. I read the plot and watch. Even if it was Brad Pitt in SM instead of Dev Patel, my reaction would be the same about SM. And, SM was better than KFP ? If you do, all I’d say is that our taste differs a lot. I mean, I think that the entire storyline …. a boy gets all the questions in a reality quiz program related to incidents in his life …. crap. (I don’t want to criticize about the novel Q&A )
And all the above mentioned films in the blog post are not “Accusations” as you claim. It’s “possibilities”. Let me make it clear to you … I am not taking any side or shedding light on bollywood as the guilty ones …. I am just laying out ‘my opinion’. Some of the English movies are rip offs from Korean and Japanese ones.
I completely agree with ur opinion abt SM.In my point of view the movie has just focused on the poverty backwardness of india more than jamal winning KBC wat it was titled to be. I feel the ppl instead feeling happy of it winning the oscar see how the movie has critised india
More recently, Paying Guests is direct scene to scene lift from Marathi Movie called Ashi Hi Banwabanwi. Instead of the old lady, the writers have chosen to put in Johnny Lever’s Sardarji act in the movie. Also Luck starring Soham Shah looks a lot like the French movie 13 Tzameti. The much hyped Baghban was a scene to scene lifet from another marathi movie called Tu Tithe Me directed by Smita Talvalkar. Salaam-E-Ishq is direct copy of Love Actually. Its time when an original script like A Wednesday and Mumbai Meri Jaan are promoted more prominently. Baazi which had Aamir Khan in it was also inspired from Die Hard. The list looks endless!!!
Hi prashant pai,
To be very frank with you, i dont see anything wrongin this as some of the best movies in other languages are made available to wider audience. Of course if something is bringing in entertainment to masses with profit…who cares. ANd the fact remains that most of these movies got only the idea in common and are not scene to scene copies. Do agree with Mr. Bhatt’s opinion on this. However, if u know ofany good foreign films that can be introduced to Indian Movie Industry…pls do reply on my email ID. Even otherwise itwould be nice to hear from your end.
Good to know your views on a topic
Aniel
newkiddatown@gmail.com
I agree to your point that some of the best movies in other languages are made available to wider audience. But don’t you think that real brains behind the original movies deserve credit or at least some sort of acknowledgement. People need to know where the ideas come from. One must draw a line between borrowing something and stealing something.