Movie Chhapaak Starring Deepika Padukone

Taken To Court By Writer Claiming Story

Credits!
The movie Chhapaak, despite gathering plenty of attention and praise, has also
become the center of a controversy lately. The movie which stars Deepika as the
main character, is directed by Meghna Gulzar, and all set to be released on the
10th of January. However, fans aren’t excited about its release anymore after a
writer Rakesh Bharti filed a case against the movie mentioning that the film’s
story is based on the writer’s own original story.
Chhapaak is based on an actual story of Laxmi Agarwal, who survived an acid
attack. The film surrounds around a woman named Malti, an acid attack survivor
In India, rebelling against the sale of acid. The newly-released trailer had viewers
in tears considering the topic was emotional, and the woman’s story resonated
with South Asians especially. As we live in a region where such attacks are
rampant, people were able to connect better.
What Led To The Controversy
A petitioner decided to file a case saying the movie’s script is based on his own
story which he pitched to Fox Star Studios. He even named the story to be, ‘Black
Day’, and mentioned that he got the title of it registered with Indian Motion
Pictures Producers Association (IMPPA) in the year 2015. Afterwards, he pitched it
to Fox Star Studios and narrated the story to the production house.
According to the writer, the script of the film seems to be a copy of his own work
which he spent years perfecting and presenting before the studio. The writer has
demanded that the makers of Chhapaak which is one of the Deepika Padukone
movies need to be held accountable for their actions. He has also expressed that
the film shouldn’t be hitting the cinemas till he is provided the writing credits.
However, the Bombay High Court decided to allow the movie to be released,
saying that it is difficult to claim copyrights over a story based on true events. The
judge decided to conclude, "Just because someone has or is writing a story on a
real-life event or incident does not mean nobody else cannot," adding, "You
(Bharti) are claiming monopoly on a real-life incident. It is impossible to grant
copyright on such stories,"
While the lawyers have claimed the scripts can be compared and evaluated for
plagiarism . All in all, it appears the hearing will continue after six more weeks,
and then arrive at a possible conclusion.