Independent filmmaker Hemal Trivedi claims Varun Dhawan starrer October was plagiarised from the 2017 Marathi film, Aarti - The Unknown Love Story
Varun Dhawan in October
As Varun Dhawan and Shoojit Sircar's recent release October found itself being celebrated, independent filmmaker Hemal Trivedi, in a Facebook post, claimed that the drama was plagiarised from the 2017 Marathi film, Aarti - The Unknown Love Story, which is directed by Sarika Mene. His post read, "The filmmakers of October never acquired any rights to the Marathi film and they never contacted Sarika."
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Still from Aarti
When mid-day contacted Mene, she claimed there were glaring similarities between the two stories. "I want the audience to watch both films and be impartial in their opinion. When I watched October, [I realised that] the emotions and characters portrayed are similar. Only a few things don't match." Based on her brother Sunny Pawar's real-life story, Aarti traces his journey as he stood by his girlfriend Aarti Makwana, who was paralysed in a car accident, till her last breath.
Mene has approached the Screenwriters Association for help, who have lined up screenings of both films. "How can a writer have imagined the exact events that had occurred in my brother's private life? I want to know where he [Sircar] got his film's idea from - sometimes he says it's inspired from his life, sometimes he says a newspaper article [was the starting point]."
A source from October's production unit said, "The movie comes from a personal space for Shoojit whose mother was in a comatose state in 2004 and he had taken care of her." Sircar confirmed that he had received a letter from the Screenwriters Association, notifying him of the complaint. He said, "We'll respond to it officially, post which we'll issue our official statement."
Also read - October box office collection: Varun Dhawan's film stays strong on weekdays
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