TVF's Aspirants in plagiarism row. Dark Horse writer says series lifted from his book

TVF's Aspirants in plagiarism row. Dark Horse writer says series lifted from his book
on May 24, 2021

The Viral Fever’s Aspirants has been garnering praises from all quarters for its realistic portrayal of the life of students who prepare for Civil Services examination. The web series has now landed in a plagiarism controversy. Sahitya Akademi Award-winning writer Nilotpal Mrinal has accused the makers of Aspirants of plagiarism. In a social media post, the writer alleged that the web series is plagiarised from his book Dark Horse. He said that his social media post is being wrongly interpreted in the media.

DARK HORSE WRITER ACCUSES ASPIRANT MAKERS OF PLAGIARISM

Nilotpal Mrinal, the writer of Sahitya Akademi Award-winning book Dark Horse, claimed that TVF's Aspirants has been plagiarised from his book. The writer said that the makers picked 30 per cent from the book and made the 100 per cent of the series. In his long social media post, he wrote,Have shared Anurabh’s (creator of Aspirants) photo and details of the meeting with him to prove that he knew me as the writer of Dark Horse and was also aware of my interests to make a film based on the book. Nilotpal has written that he is going to initiate a legal action against TVF for copying most of the story from his book and not crediting him for the same. Speaking to Aajtak, Nilotpal Mrinal said that his social media post is being wrongly interpreted in media. He said, Through Aajtak I want to clarify that TVF used 30 per cent part from my book Dark Horse and improvised on it to make 100 per cent of their web series Aspirants. Therefore, all the episodes of the web series are part of my book. In my Facebook post I have said this clearly. I don't know why is there a confusion about it. He added, I watched Aspirants when it released, and I realised from the first episode that the content for the series has been stolen from my book. After watching all the five episodes of the series, I was sure that the makers of Aspirants have stolen the soul of my book to make the web series.

WE DON'T HAVE STRICT LAWS REGARDING PLAGIARISM IN INDIA, SAYS MRINAL

Nilotpal Mrinal said that In India, the laws regarding plagiarism are not strict and therefore people who are involved in such activities easily get away from punishment in the court. He added, “Take for example, if you have a chicken and you get to know that it has been stolen and someone has cooked it into chilly chicken. Then it will be very difficult for you to prove that the chilly chicken that has been served nicely on the platter is in fact you chicken. The same thing happens with the story of a writer. When someone takes the soul of your story and develops it into a web series or a film, it becomes difficult for the writer to prove that the story belongs to him. Therefore, it is pertinent that strict laws should be made in this regard.” The writer added, I had prepared for UPSC and my book Dark Horse is based on that experience. It is the same book for which I received my first Sahitya Akademi Award. Therefore, the story is extremely close to my heart. For a writer, his creation is like his child. When the creation becomes popular, it gives the writer a source of earning. Stealing the creation from the writer is like stealing a child from his mother.

HOW DID TVF REACT TO NILOTPAL'S CLAIM?

TVF also responded to the plagiarism charges alleged by Nilotpal in a statement. “TVF is a creator-centric organization which has been nurturing writers since inception and takes their rights very seriously. A social media post has alleged that our show 'Aspirants' has been inspired from another literary work. The Company has received a notice in this regard and we will fully cooperate to investigate the matter, the statement read. Source: https://www.indiatoday.in/