HC notices to PK makers

A novelist had accused film-makers of plagiarising his work

Right wing activists protesting against ‘PK’ by burning its posters outside a theatre in New Delhi.File Photo: PTI

A novelist has filed a suit in the Delhi High Court accusing the producers and directors of Aamir Khan-starrer movie PK of plagiarising some portions of his Hindi book Farishta , published in 2013. Novelist Kapil Isapuri has alleged that the film-makers had stolen the characters, ideas and sequences from his novel.

The High Court on Wednesday issued notices to the producers and directors of PK on Mr. Isapuri’s petition, which has sought punitive damages of Rs.1 crore from the film-makers along with credit for his work.

Justice Najmi Waziri asked Vidhu Vinod Chopra and Raj Kumar Hirani, who directed the film, their respective production companies and scriptwriter Abhijat Joshi to appear before the High Court’s Joint Registrar on April 16 for recording of evidence in the case.

In his suit filed through counsel Jyotika Kalra, Mr. Isapuri said certain sequences in the storyline of

PK , such as criticism of blind faith towards godmen and terming religion as a man-made concept, had resemblance with the topics he had explored in his novel. The film-makers had used the ideas by making minor changes, said the petition.

The High Court had recently dismissed a public interest writ petition seeking deletion of “objectionable scenes” from PK , claiming that the movie’s contents had hurt religious sentiments of Hindus. The Court had observed that the growing tendency of intolerance in the country needed to be discouraged.