Actress-writer says 'Saaho' has plagiarized artwork

  • IndiaGlitz, [Saturday,August 31 2019]

In the much-trolled song 'Baby Won't You Tell Me', you see Prabhas and Shraddha Kapoor dancing their way to glory amidst artificial tree-like structures. Turns out that the artwork is actually a plagiarized one. This is as per actress-writer-activist Lisa Ray, who has penned a long critique of Saaho's act of stealing from an artist named Shilo Shiv Suleman.

It has to be seen what kind of response (if at all) the concerned designers of 'Saaho' will give. But it's inconceivable that the makers did something close to plagiarism when they could have spent a few lakhs of extra bucks to get something original created. This is a Rs 350 Cr movie allegedly.

And it's not like the weird tree-like structures have made any value-addition. Most of us have found it terribly out-of-place. Others were busy looking into their mobile phones while the pointless song was going on.

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What is creativity? What is art? Where does it come from? We know what it is not. It’s not your social status. It’s not your job title. It’s not your appearance. It’s not even the image you see in the mirror. Creativity and its sister Art reach us from the sweet spot of the universe- the soul you might say- through mystery. But I do know that the creator- artist is the channel for it. Let me tell you how hard it is to birth anything original or authentic. I personally labored for years over my book, quelled the doubts and noise from others and didn’t emerge until I had almost undone myself. Because it’s a calling. And when I was moving through dark spaces of self-doubt or hitting creative blocks, I would turn to the work that @shiloshivsuleman puts out into the world and shares on her Instagram handle for inspiration. I can recognize when a creator works honourably and deeply, bleeding, sacrificing, unsleeping, stretching herself in the direction of emotional bravery to produce work that births those feelings we all look for in day to day life. To feel inspired. To feel alive. That’s why when something dishonorable happens, we need to stand up and speak up. To hold up a mirror to these makers to make them understand THIS IS NOT RIGHT. It’s come to light that a big budget film production has ripped off one of Shilo’s original creations. This is NOT inspiration but blatant theft. In no world, is this acceptable. The production did not contact the creator, ask her permission nor offer to collaborate or offer a credit. Nothing. This is not right. I believed the Hindi film industry was evolving necessarily past stealing storylines and rampant plagiarism but the producers of Shahoo have obviously not gotten the memo when it comes to art. Here’s the thing- Creators are worthy of worship. What they produce are more lasting and precious so than all the other ‘things’ we accumulate that can be taken away. Let’s hold these producers accountable for their infuriating, dishonourable action. How would you feel if a thief slid into your home and took away your most prized possessions? Your heart. Your soul. And your livelihood. Image @dietsabya

A post shared by lisaraniray (@lisaraniray) on Aug 30, 2019 at 5:05am PDT