Writer of 'Gulabo Sitabo' Accused of Plagiarism; Production House Denies Claima

The buzz around the first big digital release that was initially planned for theaters, Gulabo Sitabo has been immense indeed. Considering the controversies that surrounded the decision to have it go digital to other things, the film is indeed been in the news.

That is happening yet again as this time as writer of the film Juhi Chaturvedi has been accused of plagiarism. However, the production house of the film has denied any such claims.

Son of late screenwriter Rajeev Agarwal, Akira is the one who has accused Chaturvedi for plagiarism. Akira said that the writer has plagiarised his father’s story for her upcoming film Gulabo Sitabo that he had submitted to Cinestaan India’s Storyteller Script Contest, of which Juhi was a jury member claimed Akira’s lawyer Rizwan Siddiquee, according to a section of the media. As per the advocate, after the trailer release of Gulabo Sitabo, Akira was shocked to see similarities between the story of his father that was submitted in March 2018 and shortlisted. Advocate Siddiquee also said that the final script of the story was submitted to all the members of the jury and they also had full access to it.

All claims made by Akira’s lawyer Rizwan Siddiquee were denied by production house Rising Sun Films backing the movie and released a statement calling the allegations baseless. As per a report in a section of the media, in a statement issued on Saturday, Rising Sun Films mentioned that Juhi Chaturvedi’s concept for Gulabo Sitabo was registered in 2018 before the contest even took place. In the statement, the banner said, “Furthermore, Juhi never received a copy of the supposedly copied script. This has been independently confirmed by the script writing contest organisers as well. Our film’s story is different from that sent out in the notice. It is surprising how grave allegations are being made solely on the basis of a 2 minute 41 second trailer."

Meanwhile, Akira’s lawyer Siddiquee also approached the Screenwriters Association (SWA) asking the Gulabo Sitabo writer to submit her script. The lawyer claimed that Juhi denied that she had the right to use the script. Finally, SWA ruled in favour of Chaturvedi on May 29 as per Rising Sun Films. The production house also mentioned in their statement that unnecessary controversies are being created around the film.

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