Shirish Kunder responds to plagiarism claim with legal action

Neupane alleged that “Bob” was ready in October 2015 and that he uploaded it on Vimeo “as a private video to share it with close friends” before releasing it on YouTube on May 12 this year.

In response to that, Kunder’s notice reads that he could “not have obtained a copy” of “Bob”. In fact, he says that since the script of “Kriti” was available with a few people, it is “entirely possible” that Neupane came across it and then put “Bob” together.

“Assuming your position is correct that the two films are so similar, then it is you who has infringed our client’s copyright,” the notice to Neupane read.

In “Kriti”, Manoj Bajpayee is seen suffering from a psychological disorder, while Radhika Apte and Neha Sharma play crucial roles with Manu Rishi also essaying a role. The film is for the online platform muvizz.com but has been uploaded on Youtube as well.

Kunder has demanded that Neupane tenders an “unconditional written apology”, refrains from making any oral or written comments on “Kriti” and takes down “Bob” from the internet immediately and refrain from publishing the same or any part thereof on any other medium.

“Kriti”, an 18-minute short film, was released online on June 22. The film is getting rave responses from members of the film fraternity and critics a like. Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal also appreciated Kunder for it.