Magadheera team withdraws plagiarism case against Sushant Singh Rajput-starrer Raabta

Producers of Ram Charan and Kajal Aggarwal’s Telugu movie Magadheera on withdrew a plagiarism case they slapped against the makers of Bollywood film Raabta on the morning of Thursday, 8 June 2017. The Raabta makers were accused of copying the plot and storyline of Magadheera, thus making it a case of copyright violation. [caption id=“attachment_3416306” align=“alignnone” width=“825”]  Kirti Shanon and Sushant Singh Rajput in Raabta.[/caption] “We presented our case to the honourable court as to how the films are not similar. In the morning, the makers of M_agadheera_ withdrew their case,” Dinesh Vijan, director of Raabta, told IANS. The lawyers fighting Raabta’s case argued on 7 July that the storyline, the background of the characters, the locations, the finale and the role of the villain in the film are completely different from that of Magadheera. This was a point made by the writers of Raabta, who said that the concept of two lovers meeting across time is a template of past-life films, and that if this logic is employed, the film is also similar to any other film that is about past-life romances, like Mirzya. The lawyers also highlighted that the concern regarding the iconic scene where a 100 warriors feature had been lifted and used in Raabta were completely unfounded. They said that such a scene was neither a part of the film or its trailer. “Unlike ‘Magadheera’, the villainous character [in Raabta] was, in fact, an anti-hero and a parallel interest point for the heroine. Even in the back story depicting the past life of characters, the hero of the film actually plays a negative character for most part,” read a statement released by the Raabta team. In the case that they filed, the Magadheera makers sought an injunction against the release of Raabta. In response to this, producers Dinesh Vijan and Bhushan Kumar put out an official statement. “We would like to categorically reject even the remotest of suggestions that our film is a copy of Magadheera. We find it extremely unsavoury and disrespectful when people from the industry belittle someone’s hard work by using words like ‘copied’, ‘plagiarised’ nonchalantly and jump to conclusions merely on the basis of a 2 minute and 14 second trailer, without verifying the facts or waiting for the film to release for the public to give its verdict,” read the statement . Later, the lawyers of T-Series told Mid-Day that the injunction application had been reserved for orders. “We have filed the entire script of our film along with a comparative chart showing how the two films are completely different in the their story, treatment and expression, something that the Plaintiff ought to have done in the first place as part of his pleadings to show comparative similarities,” he said. This Dinesh Vijan film found itself mired in two other controversies. While music producer Pritam wanted to pull out of the film following a disagreement with the producers over the inclusion of a song, Punjabi singer J-star accused T-Series of stealing his song ‘Na Na Na Na’ for the film. T-Series denied these rumours . Raabta also stars Jim Sarbh and features a cameo by Rajkummar Rao, who looks unrecognisable in his role. Magadheera was directed by SS Rajamouli, and it is a reincarnation story whose plot revolves around a valiant warrior responsible for a princess’ safety, the princess who loves the warrior, her cousin who lusts after her and a scheming emperor who wants to capture their kingdom. It was produced by Allu Aravind of Geetha Arts and released in 2009. As per the court order, Raabta will release on the scheduled date, that is 9 June 2017. (With inputs from IANS)