“I am very proud to say Barfi is a
completely original story. It’s very difficult to make original cinema
and I take a lot of pride in saying Barfi is original. It baffles me why
people are not appreciating the original plot, screenplay, characters
and situations.”
These were the words of the director of the Bollywood masterpiece Barfi!, Anurag Basu, after he faced a recent allegation of plagiarism post success of Barfi!.
Further, he said:
"Martin Scorcese and Quentin Tarantino have done the same. Does that make
them a thief? Great moments of cinema that you’ve watched through the
years, stay in your mind and they come out in your work. It doesn’t mean
you’re copying anyone. Thank God The Artiste was not made by an Indian.
If it had, it would have never gone to the Oscars.”
The Controversy.
Since its release two weeks ago, several videos have spread
through YouTube and social media sites highlighting a number of scenes
that appear to draw heavily from international classics.
Some scenes from the movie show stark resemblances with clips from Gene Kelly's hit " Singin' in the Rain" (1952), Jackie Chan's " Project A" (1983), Buster Keaton's " Cops" (1922) and " The Notebook" (2004) starring Ryan Gosling among others.
The plot has been likened to "Benny & Joon", the 1993 film starring
Johnny Depp, while the soundtrack has drawn further comparisons with
the musical score from "Amelie", the 2001 hit starring Audrey Tautou.
One of the clearest sources of inspiration is Charlie Chaplin: one
scene shows Barfi dodging a policeman through a sliding door, just as
the king of silent film did in 1917's "The Adventurer".
