P lagiarism is a hot topic in any art. But plagiarism in films has scope for widespread discussions as it is a popular medium of entertainment. Now ‘Cut Copy,' on Fridays at 8.30 p.m. on The Reporter channel, brings to light movies in Malayalam that were inspired by other films. Bishwas Balan, who produces the programme, is a short filmmaker. Friday Review spoke to Bishwas about his rendezvous with adaptations.
All about comparison
Malayalam films have been inspired by Hollywood movies. Some of those movies were adapted into Malayalam with a twist of local flavour. We have derived inspiration from Hindi cinema and European films too. Nowadays there is a trend to adapt Asian cinema, for example those from Korea. Many of these adaptations have become cult hits in Malayalam and even award winners. So we thought it would be interesting to compare the original with the ‘adapted' version.
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For instance, we have used clips from the Hollywood film ‘The Golden Child' (1986) and compared it with the popular Malayalam film ‘Yodha.'
A close look
It's actually a process of tearing off the ‘masks' of cult hits. We usually plan one film per episode but sometimes we might be able to include two films. In one week, we had included ‘Yodha' and ‘Arunachalam.' ‘Big B' and ‘Anwar' were the films in another episode.
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Analysis is the key
There have been such programmes on other media but we hope to be different with an in-depth analysis of the film. It will not be confined to easily identifiable sequences.
‘Cut Copy' is a half-hour exploration of the similarities that a film in Malayalam has with a non-Malayalam movie. We show film clippings, and critically analyse them; in short, it's entertainment that promises to change your film viewing experience forever.
Plenty of material
We have completed five episodes right now and hope to go on to at least 50 episodes or as long as there is material to compile. Feroz Khan is the show's anchor.
Dos and Don'ts
We include all films that fall into the purview of our programme concept. We do not, as a policy, include films that are still running in theatres.