Kesari 2 Plagiarism Row: Dialogue Writer Sumit Saxena Responds After Yahya Bootwala’s Accusation
Kesari 2 dialogue writer Sumit Saxena responds after Yahya Bootwala accuses the film of plagiarism. Here’s what he said about the viral controversy.
After poet and spoken word artist Yahya Bootwala accused the makers of Kesari 2 of plagiarising a dialogue from his 2020 poem, the film’s dialogue writer Sumit Saxena has issued a public statement addressing the controversy. The film, starring Akshay Kumar and Ananya Panday, has recently found itself under scrutiny despite its success at the box office.
Taking to his official Instagram handle, Sumit Saxena wrote that he was being wrongly targeted online.
Sumit Saxena's post
“I was wrongly accused of plagiarism. And hence, I got massively trolled, bullied, and abused for that,” Saxena said in his post.
He further explained that the contentious lines were already part of a scene when he received the script from the film’s director:
“The truth is, I didn’t write those lines. On 9th May 2023, I received them via email in an FDX file named ‘Dilreet train station’ from the director. Those lines were already a part of Dilreet’s dialogues in that scene. I didn’t know who wrote those lines. I am not the ONLY writer on the film.”
View this post on Instagram
Saxena emphasized that his post was not meant to deflect blame but to stand in solidarity with original creators and speak out against plagiarism:
“I do not blame Yahya Bootwala. He did what any artist should — he stood up for what he believed was his original work and fought for his rightful credit in the way he deemed fit. I’m glad he received support and that the matter was amicably settled with the producers.”
He also shared screenshots of the abusive comments and trolling he received after the accusations went public, urging people to be mindful of the difference between criticism and harassment.
What Did Yahya Bootwala Say?
Yahya Bootwala had earlier taken to Instagram to accuse the filmmakers of lifting lines from his poem Jallianwala Bagh, originally performed in April 2020 for the UnErase Poetry YouTube channel.
“So @nisoooooooooorg sent me a clip 4 days back from the movie Kesari 2 of dialogues he felt were copied from my poem titled Jallianwala Bagh, published 5 years ago on @unerasepoetry YouTube channel. Here are the two clips, and honestly, this is a clear copy-paste. It’s not like they’ve tried to hide it either — even the word phusphusana was lifted,” he wrote.
He then directly tagged individuals associated with the film:“As writers, the worst thing you can do to a fellow writer is pick their material up, blatantly use it without giving credit — and this is what I feel dialogue writer @sumit.saxena.35912 has done here. If you’ve ever connected with my work, please tag @karanjohar, @karanstyagi, @dharmamovies, @akshaykumar, and @ananyapanday so that this reaches them.”
Resolution and Aftermath
While the plagiarism controversy sparked outrage on social media, it appears that the issue has since been resolved amicably between Yahya Bootwala and the producers. Saxena's statement has brought additional clarity to the matter, particularly regarding how content sometimes passes through multiple hands during film development.
Top Headlines
