Gulabo Sitabo: Writer Of Amitabh Bachchan-Ayushmann Khurrana Film Gets Accused Of Plagiarism; Production House Denies Claims

A much buzz has been created around the film Gulabo Sitabo starring Amitabh Bachchan and Ayushmann Khurrana. Amidst the ongoing pandemic, the makers of the film announced that Gulabo Sitabo will skip the theatrical release and release directly on OTT platforms on June 12. Since then, the much-anticipated trailer of the film Gulabo Sitabo, directed by Shootjit Sircar and written by Juhi Chaturvedi was released recently. Now, days after the trailer release, the writer Juhi Chaturvedi gets accused of plagiarism, but the production house denies the allegations.

Gulabo Sitabo writer Juhi Chaturvedi has been accused of plagiarism by late screenwriter Rajeev Agarwal's son, Akira. The son of the late writer has accused the writer of plagiarising his father’s story for her upcoming film Gulabo Sitabo that he had submitted to Cinestaan India’s Storyteller Script Contest, of which Juhi was a jury member claimed Akira’s lawyer Rizwan Siddiquee, according to a section of the media. As per the advocate, after the trailer release of Gulabo Sitabo, Akira was shocked to see similarities between the story of his father that was submitted in March 2018 and shortlisted. Advocate Siddiquee also said that the final script of the story was submitted to all the members of the jury and they also had full access to it.

Denying all the claims made by Akira’s lawyer Rizwan Siddiquee, the production house Rising Sun Films backing the movie released a statement calling the allegations baseless. As per a report in a section of the media, in a statement issued on Saturday, Rising Sun Films mentioned that Juhi Chaturvedi’s concept for Gulabo Sitabo was registered in 2018 before the contest even took place. In the statement, the banner said, “Furthermore, Juhi never received a copy of the supposedly copied script. This has been independently confirmed by the script writing contest organisers as well. Our film’s story is different from that sent out in the notice. It is surprising how grave allegations are being made solely on the basis of a 2 minute 41 second trailer."

Meanwhile, Akira’s lawyer Siddiquee also approached the Screenwriters Association (SWA) asking the Gulabo Sitabo writer to submit her script. The lawyer claimed that Juhi denied that she had the right to use the script. Finally, SWA ruled in favour of Chaturvedi on May 29 as per Rising Sun Films. The production house also mentioned in their statement that unnecessary controversies are being created around the film. On the other hand, talking about Juhi Chaturvedi, the writer has worked earlier on films Vicky Donor, October, Piku. Also Read: Gulabo Sitabo: Take A Look At Amitabh Bachchan's Extraordinary Look And Transformation In The Film – WATCH