Filmmaker Shirish Kunder's Kriti starring Radhika Apte and Manoj Bajpayee, has been removed from You Tube after it was challenged over copyright by a Nepali filmmaker. Kriti had reportedly been watched over 2.5 million times before it was taken down.
Shirish’s ‘Kriti’ is the copy of Nepali short film ‘Bob’?; Kunder files legal notice saying it is the opposite!
Shirish Kunder has been accused of plagiarism by Nepali filmmaker Aneel Neupane, who alleges that the plot of Kriti has been copied from his own short BOB, released seven months ago.
Those who seek Kriti will find it removed. @ShirishKunder #KritiStoleBOB
Thank you all for the immense support. pic.twitter.com/VOY4N01OYB
— Aneel Neupane (@AneelNeupane) June 28, 2016
Two days after the 18-minute film released on YouTube on June 22, Neupane claimed that Kunder 'practically stole the plot' of his short film BOB.
On Tuesday, there were reports that Kunder had sent Neupane a legal notice demanding an "unconditional written apology" and has asked him to refrain from making any oral or written comments on Kriti.
Shirish Kunder FINALLY breaks silence on ‘Kriti’ controversy; Says allegation that the movie is copied baseless!
He also suggested that it was Neupane who was guilty of plagiarism and demanded that BOB be taken offline immediately.
"That short film (Bob) was released on May 12 whereas we shot Kriti in February, after which it was in post-production. How is it even possible to 'lift' the idea, unless I was time travelling," he said.
But on Tuesday night, it was discovered that YouTube has taken down Kunder's film stating 'The video is no longer available due to copyright claim by Aneel Neupane'.