Copycat Bollywood: Plagiarism and Copyright Breaches

Bollywood has been notorious for shamelessly lifting from Hollywood, Tollywood and Kollywood without giving due acknowledgment or compensation to their sources. With recent threats from Sony Pictures regarding the almost frame to frame copying of Dhawan's Partner (seen in the graphic on the left) from Hitch, and the court ruling enforcing the payment of $500,000 by Rakesh Roshan for the replication of Ram Sampath's ad-jingle in Krazzy 4's theme song, it is clear that this issue is finally gaining prominence and affecting Bollywood's reputation internationally. Last week, I therefore decided to explore the blogosphere to investigate how audience's responded to problematic presence of such widespread plagiarism in Bollywood. The first post I decided to comment on, Kraazy Logic: In B'wood, Copy Right is the Right to Copy, found on the reputed blog Naachgana, discussed the legal issues faced by Krazzy 4, (see illustration to the right) and the possible future of copyright infringement in Bollywood. Vikrant Bhakta's Plagiarism in the Hindi Film Industry, the second blog I chose to contribute to, discusses possible solutions to this casual attitude towards illegally copying. My comments can be seen by following the above links and are also included below for your convenience.

Kraazy Logic: In B'wood, Copy Right is the Right to Copy

Comment:
Your post on the culture of plagiarizing in Bollywood is extremely interesting and pertinent in an era where the Hindi film industry is growing in reach and stature and is refusing to acknowledge international copyright laws. I completely agree with your statement that as "Bollywood's market is expanding across the globe, the chances of being caught become relatively higher". More importantly however, if Indian cinema is attempting to build a reputation and brand for itself, it is essential that future films live up to the ethical and legal standards followed by media industries the world over. Furthermore, Misra's quote that "80% of what Hollywood produces are remakes that have been done with due authorization" is integral in pointing out that being inspired by myriad sources is an indispensable practice in any creative process and that Bollywood is not necessarily less original, but merely less cautious with respect to legal proceedings than Hollywood.

I do however disagree with the fact that the "increasing pressure on the creators to come up with original ideas" is the cause of this lax attitude towards copyright infringements. Due to the unprofessional nature of the industry prior to the recent wave of corporatization, relations within the field were based on personal interactions. Therefore, to avoid any conflict between the tightly-knit film fraternity, copyright issues were overlooked. Even today, while Bollywood has certainly come a long way from family run companies to global corporations, the role of the producer is not as clearly defined as it is in Hollywood. In India, a producer is the head of the production company and oversees all the films in progress, whereas a Hollywood producer manages one of the studio's many films and plays a key role in conceptualizing and developing a story rather than merely seeing an already established script or treatment through production. I respectfully disagree with the fact that "the malaise of copyright and plagiarism are here to stay" as I feel that with the further evolution of Bollywood's business models and the increased accountability and individual attention given to upcoming films by producers, Indian cinema might finally tap into the indigenous talent pool more effectively and focus on story, innovation and creativity. Rather than seeing the emerging, highly competitive industry as compelling artists to come up with products on a tight time constraint and recycle the narratives of already established box office successes, I believe that it is this very environment that will facilitate increased capital and attention spent on the research and development of screenplays. The suing of Rakesh Roshan for copyright infringements regarding Krazzy 4's music will hopefully set an example by drawing attention to the problems and repercussions of continuing plagiarism within the industry.

Plagiarism in the Hindi Film Industry

Comment:
Thank you for your informative post on the problematic issues of copying in Bollywood today, and I applaud you for attempting to start a productive discussion regarding this topic instead of merely stating past instances of such lifting. You raise an important question as to why "we don't see many members of the film industry criticizing this practice". With decelerations like "Yes I copy " from Ram Gopal Varma and similar attitudes from well-known professionals, I think garnering respect for and awareness of copyright laws is the first step in generating change in the film community. Moreover, while I agree with many of your suggestions, I do feel that ultimately it is the producer who must be held responsible for copyright infringements since he or she is accountable for the film as a whole and will be the first to be indicted when such a breach occurs. Furthermore, during the 50s when auteurs like Raj Kapoor carefully controlled their films from start to finish, products like Kaagaz Ka Phool were incredibly creative and original. It was only from the 70s onwards when the unprofessional yet lucrative industry began mass producing films in the quickest and cheapest way possible that knock-offs become popular. Thus the careful supervision of a film by a single producer is integral and makes the accountable party creatively involved in the process. Increasing the recognition given to writers is also another way of tackling this problem. Although screenwriters in Hollywood too suffer from under representation and low pay, Bollywood provides almost no acknowledgment and only an extremely low, one time fee as compensation to them. In order to encourage creativity, it is crucial for industrialists to make this profession more lucrative. Lastly of course, copyright laws need to be strengthened in order to meet international standards and for Bollywood to maintain its growing global stature. With the onset of the final stages of maturation of the industry, and most importantly, with the recent threats and prosecutions as in with Partner and Krazzy 4 to name a few, I am certain that Hindi cinema will only thrive with this newfound necessity for creativity and ingenuity.

Redefining Bollywood: In Defense of Sanjay Leela Bhansali

"I express my personal anguish in my cinema" says Sanjay Leela Bhansali, and indeed the central theme of all his films is the pain and passion of physically or emotionally flawed individuals attempting to connect across vast psychological and spatial distances. Khamoshi, Bhansali's debut film was about a daughter trying hard to bridge the communication chasm with her deaf-mute parents. His next two films were more Bollywood mainstream: Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam, a lighter and frothier love story that dealt with the complexities of infatuation and separation, and the musical extravaganza Devdas, a lavishly executed portrayal of unfulfilled romance and tragedy. Then came Black, a stark, intimate psycho-drama about a deaf and blind girl and her obsessive teacher, and finally Saawariya, a moody, lyrical fairy tale of unrequited love based on Dostoevsky's White Nights. While all his films have had their share of awards and accolades, Bhansali has often been accused of being over-ostentatious, pretentious and self-indulgent. His films, say critics, suffer from being "too heavily designed", are "all atmosphere and no soul" and result in "wearying, cloying melodrama". I would like to offer another opinion.

I believe Bhansali is one of the freshest and finest talents of Bollywood, a trend-setter unafraid to continually challenge himself. He has clearly mastered the craft of film making, and references a breath of work from V. Shantaram and Raj Kapoor, to Bertolucci and Baz Luhrmann. He demonstrates an impeccable feel for visual design, consistently producing films that are sumptuously ravishing; the rich architecture of Gujarat in Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam, the ornate havelis and costumes of Devdas' Calcutta, and the alluring fantastical city in Saawariya that combines elements of Mumbai, Venice and Istanbul. Even his harshest critics agree that his use of lighting and color is extraordinary, whether the rainbow palette of Devdas or the completely monochromatic Saawariya where the exclusive use of blues intensifies the mysteriousness and melancholy of the protagonists. His ear for music is pitch-perfect, allowing carefully crafted melodies to perfectly compliment his aesthetics rather than distract from the filmic medium. The sound tracks of Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam, Devdas and Saawariya have been phenomenally successful and as a trained Odissi dancer, his eye for choreography has been keen. Who can forget Madhuri and Aishwarya in the stunning song and dance sequence of Devdas' Dola Re? The soundtracks in his films, sometimes as many as fourteen, are always poetic and integrated into the narrative perfectly. Yet, while music is an obvious strength he bravely chose to make Black without a single song, path-breaking for mainstream Bollywood cinema.

Which brings me to what I must say in defense of Saawariya. Universally panned by critics and audiences as "repetitive, sentimental, cliched", and "an underwhelming waste", to me, it was a cinematic poem. Like the best evocative poetry, it was high on atmosphere, concentrating on evoking a mood and tone as the deliberately stylized sets as indicated in the graphics above, added to the strangeness and mystery of the narrative. Any attempts to slot the film by genre or time seem irrelevant as Bhansali's camera steers seductively through a city that could be anywhere, in a setting that could be decades ago, or present day, unwinding a timeless story of love that is universal.

About his lack of restraint Bhansali has said "I was born and brought up in Bombay where people shout at each other from windows of flats on opposite sides of the street. I belong to a community with a loud lifestyle. You cannot expect dignity, propriety, control and detachment from me. I cannot make a film without melodrama." Yet he has consistently brought a high standard of aesthetics to his human interest stories, marrying high-brow art with the pointedly commercial, and creating almost an entirely new genre for Bollywood. His pluck in hurling himself in new directions is most recently evidenced in his latest venture the French opera ballet Padmavati, as seen in the illustration above, that opened in Paris and was given a fifteen minute standing ovation. Bhansali directed an entirely French cast and crew through an interpreter and worked seamlessly with a hundred member orchestra and a sixty member choir. By all means it was a vintage Bhansali- a story of pathos (an Indian queen dying for honor and dignity) told in breathtaking visuals, dazzling colors, brilliant choreography and superb performances.

Back in Bombay, fresh from his success, Bhansali said in The Times of India, "All my pain over Saawariya has been washed away", perhaps in reaction to the tasteless digs made by hosts Saif Ali Khan and Shahrukh Khan about Sanjay "Neela (Blue)" Bhansali at the 53rd Annual Filmfare Awards. Few Bollywood directors can boast of such a rich body of varied, creative productions and I believe that every one of his forgivably flawed films is a future classic. His work, like fine wine, must be savored as a sensuous experience, in its entirety, where the whole is far greater than the sum of its constituent parts. Analyzing the contribution of each separate component serves only to diminish from the total phenomenon. Generations of forthcoming film majors will be studying his work and paying respect to his special aesthetic. What we should do in the present is leave him alone to innovate, experiment and push the boundaries of what is, and allow him to show us what can be.