Deepika Padukone's 'Chhapaak' accused of plagiarism

Petitioner Rakesh Bharti has challenged the film in Bombay High Court

A writer has approached the Bombay High Court against Deepika Padukone-starrer Chhapaak, claiming that he originally penned the same story on which the film is based.

The petitioner named Rakesh Bharti, has sought that he should be given credit as one of the writers of the film. The suit filed by Bharti claims that he had conceived the idea and the script for a movie, which was tentatively titled Black Day, and got it registered with the Indian Motion Pictures Producers’ Association (IMPPA) in February 2015.

Bharti said since then he has been working on the script and approaching several artistes and producers, including Fox Star Studio, for narration, reported The Indian Express.

"The project could not commence due to unavoidable circumstances. The plaintiff had narrated the idea to Fox Star Studio, which is the production house for Chhapaak,” the plea said.

Bharti’s advocate Ashok Sarogi said the plaintiff later came to know about an identical film that was being produced by the defendants (Fox Star Studio and others), which was being directed by Meghna Gulzar. He then submitted surplus complaints to the producers but did not get any reply, after which he approached the Bombay High Court. In his plea, Bharti sought credit as one of the writers of Chhapaak and the film’s release be stayed until then. He has also sought for an expert to be appointed to compare his script to that of Chhapaak.

Sarogi said the plea will be heard by a vacation bench of the Bombay High Court on December 27, 2019. While the film based on the acid attack survivor Laxmi Agarwal, is slated for release on January 10, 2020.

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