Karan Johar's Kalank reportedly inspired by Shauna Singh Baldwin's book, What The Body Remembers

Karan Johar’s multi-starrer dream project Kalank has been in making for a long time. In an Instagram post on 6 March, Johar had recollected that the film was actually conceptualised by his father, Yash, 15 years ago and it was the last film he worked on before he passed away. However, ahead of film’s release, a new development states Kalank’s premise is far from original. It was bought to light by a social media user who revealed that the film’s plot is much similar to Shauna Singh Baldwin’s book ‘What The Body Remembers’.

The premise released by Dharma Productions reads: Kalank, a period film, set in pre-independent India, is a story about an elite family and many of its hidden truths that begin to unfold as communal tensions rise and partition nears. Caught in this situation are Dev, Satya, Roop, and Zafar, who find themselves in this battlefield of love. The synopsis of the book available online reads, “Out of the rich culture of India and the brutal drama of the 1947 Partition comes this lush and eloquent debut novel about two women married to the same man. But the relationship between the older and younger woman is far more complex. And, as India lurches toward independence, Sardarji struggles to find his place amidst the drastic changes.” From the trailer of _Kalank_ , we know that Sonakshi and Alia’s characters are married to the same man, played by Aditya Roy Kapur. Apart from the film’s plotline, certain similarities like the names of the characters can also be between the book and the film. While Karan Johar hasn’t come up with a reaction to this, the book’s author Shauna shared her reaction on social media. She mentioned that no one has purchased the rights to her book.

Thanks for bringing this to my attention, savvy readers. I haven’t seen the movie, so I can’t judge. I did read a leaked plot summary that didn’t seem to be the tale of two women in a polygamous marriage in colonial India.

— Shauna Singh Baldwin (@SSinghBaldwin) April 2, 2019

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Have you seen the movie? Have you read What the Body Remembers? This is a pretty serious charge. Please be very sure.

— Shauna Singh Baldwin (@SSinghBaldwin) April 2, 2019

No one has purchased film rights to What the Body Remembers. @TransLitAgency

— Shauna Singh Baldwin (@SSinghBaldwin) April 2, 2019

According to in.com, in his earlier media interactions, Karan mentioned that the idea of this film came to him in 2004. The book was released in 1999. The filmmaker states that it is Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s vision of adding grandeur in his film inspired him to do a film like Kalank. Directed by Abhishek Varman, Kalank is written by Shibani Bathija and Varman. The ensemble cast includes Madhuri Dixit, Sonakshi Sinha, Bhatt, Varun Dhawan, Aditya Roy Kapur and Sanjay Dutt in pivotal roles. Kalank is set to release on 17 April.