Toilet: Ek Prem Katha - Rajasthan-based filmmaker sends legal notice to makers over song for copyright violation

Akshay Kumar and Bhumi Pednekar’s upcoming film Toilet: Ek Prem Katha was recently embroiled in controversy when the director of a documentary titled Manini alleged that that the makers had plagiarised scenes . He also sent the team a legal notice, as well as a cease and desist notice for the trailer. Now, this film on sanitation has been accused of another plagiarism charge — this time by a Rajasthan filmmaker Vipin Tiwari who alleges that the song ‘Has Mat Pagli’ has been lifted from a song of the same name in his film Laadli. [caption id=“attachment_3538567” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Toilet: Ek Prem Katha. Image from Twitter[/caption] He has sent the team a legal notice accusing them of violating the Copyright Act. This complaint was also forwarded to the Indian Film and TV Producers Council (IFTPC), which in turn has sought a clarification from Neeraj Pandey, the co-producer of Toilet: Ek Prem Katha. The IFTPC has asked Pandey to submit a reply to Tiwari’s petition within three days. If he fails to do so, the matter will be referred to the disputes settlement committee. Vipin Tiwari is the head of Teetri Production and says that he directed and produced Laadli, which was released on 7 April. This film deals with the subject of the girl child. “One of the famous songs in the movie, ‘Hans Mat Pagli Pyar Ho Jaega’ was approved in our favor by IFPTC, and till date, its registration is with us. Toilet: Ek Prem Katha, in its promo, is screening the very [same] song without our permission. Also, the song of Kumar’s movie has similar picturisation of the scene of the Holi festival in the Braj area, which is similar to the picturisation in Laadli,” he said, as quoted by DNA. Tiwari has demanded that the promotional content be withdrawn, the ‘plagiarised’ scenes be removed and the release of the film be stopped. Here is the song in question:

Here is the song from the Akshay Kumar-starrer:

The lyrics and music of both songs seem to be quite different, and the only commonality seems to be the refrain “Has mat pagli, pyaar ho jaayega.” The music of Toilet: Ek Prem Katha has been produced by Vickey Prasad, and the lyrics have been written by Siddharth-Garima. This writer duo has previously been accused of plagiarism over the plot of Sushant Singh Rajput and Kriti Sanon-starrer Raabta. The makers of Magadheera directed by SS Rajamouli claimed the story and unique plot of the film had been copied by the writers and sought an injunction against Raabta. Toilet: Ek Prem Katha, directed by Shree Narayan Singh, releases on 11 August.