Sanjay Gupta protests against plagiarised ZMND

Sanjay Gupta and Kunal Kohli clash over ZNMD
Mumbai Mirror | Jan 16, 2012, 09.43AM IST
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Sanjay Gupta, who has often been accused of plagiarism, was part of a heated debate over a film, the film in question being Zoya Akhtar's much hyped Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara.

At a jury meeting held last week for a an awards ceremony, there was a near-walkout as filmmakers Sanjay Gupta and Kunal Kohli had an ugly spat over the originality of ZNMD.

While Kohli was all for ZNMD, Gupta vehemently opposed the selection, arguing that the film was a 'rip-off' of a 1985 American film Fandango. Another jury member revealed on condition of anonymity, "We had gone down the list and more or less decided all the other winners unanimously. There was a tie between ZNMD and another popular film for Best Picture.

Three jury members had voted for either. Gupta arrived a bit late and as soon as he heard that ZNMD was one of the top contenders, he put his foot down, claiming the film is a carbon copy of Fandango. Now, that was a new one for us. Most of us had never heard of this film."

Kohli was apparently very upset with Gupta's accusation, however Gupta insisted. "He even offered to arrange DVDs of Fandango for all the jury members," said the source. And they all watched it. "While a few of us did see some striking similarities between the two films, Kohli was unconvinced. He spoke about how it was alleged that his film Hum Tum too was a rip-off of When Harry Met Sally," the source disclosed.

Kohli, along with another jury member, even threatened to walk out if ZNMD wasn't considered. The scene turned incredibly ugly, so much so that Shekhar Kapur, who was heading the jury in absentia from New York, had to intervene on the Internet before a truce could be called and a decision made.

When contacted, Gupta refused to comment on the stormy session. When asked about the similarities between her film and Fandango, Akhtar shot back, "Why don't you watch Fandango and answer the question yourself?"

my 1st thought sanjay gupta his all movies english film ripped of

I was gonna say the exact same thing.. His movies are plagarized from hollywood as well, so why complain?