25 August,2026 01:45 PM IST | Mumbai | Priyanka Sharma
Monika Shergill. Pics/Instagram
Controversy has hit Taapsee Pannu's Gandhari even before the Netflix film's teaser is out. Screenwriter Kalyan Bandi has accused Monika Shergill, Vice President of Content, Netflix India, of copyright infringement and sent a legal notice to that effect. According to Bandi, the upcoming movie - about a mother in search of her daughter - has similarities with his story, also titled Gandhari, that he pitched to her in April 2019.
Bandi revealed to mid-day that he first wrote to Shergill about his story on LinkedIn. "She used to work with another streaming platform at the time. She asked me to send the story on her email ID, and I did that. In May, she told me that it wouldn't work for them and I was free to pitch it elsewhere," recalled the writer.
According to Bandi, he shopped Gandhari around, and in late 2023, a studio came on board to develop it as a theatrical release. His first shock came in September 2024 when Netflix India announced Gandhari, written by Kanika Dhillon. Bandi shared, "When I saw the title announcement, I reached out to Monika on LinkedIn again because my story is also of a mother and the disappearance of young girls, similar to Taapsee's film. I didn't get any response."
By December 2024, he faced another setback. "The producers backed out of my project quietly, and I understood why."
The writer considered taking action, and first approached Screenwriters Association (SWA) for assistance. "As I had directly communicated with Monika, SWA said I could take the legal route. I sent her a legal notice last September for copyright infringement," he shared.
In the 11 months since, he hasn't got a response from Shergill. "People around told me that I can't fight Netflix as it has a strong legal team. So, I decided to go on social media."
mid-day reached out to Shergill and Netflix India, who didn't respond till press time.
