The term plagiarism has lost its edge in Bollywood. Lifting, Remaking is no longer a big deal for the industry which is fast becoming lazy in terms of generating newer stories, newer scripts. When was the last you saw something that wasn’t lifted or inspired, that was purely original in terms of the concept and the idea? Well it was surely a long, long time ago. Going through the films that are on the loop this year, trying to find a nascently refreshing product was a task.

Jai Ho and Heartless Movie Poster

Even in the films that went by last month, there were barely any newer stories being told. Salman Khan re-entered the commercial realm after a one year long break from the silver screens with Jai Ho which was a remake of the Telugu hit Stalin. But then even Stalin wasn’t exactly original as its basic premise matches the layout of 2006 Hollywood flick Pay It Forward which was again inspired by Catherine Ryan Hyde’s novel of the same name. Confusing eh? Exactly. Copying is an art of carrying it forward from Hollywood to vernacular to Bollywood, but no one would prefer emerging out of their sloth and write something new. That’s not all. Even the recent release Heartless was a remake of the medical thriller Awake. Despite insisting that the film is only loosely based on the Hollywood original, why is there such a lack of new ideas that we fall back on heard and seen stories. Why can’t you come up with something unheard?

Holiday and Gang Of Ghosts Movie Poster

If you thought the year’s string of stolen work ends with these films, don’t live in the happy bubble. I recently stumbled upon the trailer of Gang Of Ghosts which is inspired from a very popular Bengali film Bhooter Bhobhishyot. What caught my eye specifically was how the makers were promoting it as India’s first ghost comedy. Clearly they have no regard for the original source and take their liberty in misleading the audiences so blatantly. It is not only incorrect but highly unprofessional on their part to not credit the source that had inspired them.

Murugadoss’ Holiday is another example of the inactivity of scriptwriters in the industry. For the producer investing in a film on the concept that has already been made in one language is futile in my opinion. You are widening the reach of your product, agreed! But for the section of the audiences who have seen the film already, it will be bland and repetitive.

Salman Khan in French beard look for movie ‘Kick’ and still from movie ‘Bang Bang’

These are the films we have already seen glimpses of, but there are many more lazier examples in the 2014′s pipeline. Some makers don’t even take the pains to change the title. Salman’s upcoming film Kick is also a remake but that is not the worst part. It is based on a famous Telugu film of the same name. But Salman fans will send me to hell if I criticize him any further in this article so I will seal up on him.

Sallu Bhai is known for making crass look fantastic but Hrithik Roshan too went the same way. No I am not talking about Krrish 3. Oops tabooed touche! Pairing up with Katrina Kaif in Bang Bang is nothing to feel elated about the terrific pairing. They do have smashing chemistry and look ravishing together but it is again inspired from the Hollywood film Knight and Day.

It is an exhausting experience to watch films these days. Cinema was delightful earlier. Good films are like delicious chocolates that make you feel you are on cloud 9. Bollywood in 2014 will not be half as ecstatic as it can be if films served to us are cut, copied, pasted and lifted. All said and done, I might be preachy and righteous when it comes to this but something needs to curb the trend of being unoriginal. I make a long speech in the hope that this might help nail in the thick brains of producers that it is crucial to find newer stories to tell or we are making headway towards doom!

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