Raabta-Magadheera legal tussle: How original is the 2009 Ram Charan-starrer?

When producer Allu Aravind moved court against Bollywood movie Raabta over the charges of copyright violation, it left several film critics scratching their heads. The Geetha Arts founder had claimed that Raabta, starring Sushant Singh Rajput and Kriti Sanon, was a copy of his 2009 blockbuster, an SS Rajamouli directorial, and had a 'unique story and plotline'. And he came to this conclusion after watching just the trailer and filed an injunction plea seeking a stay on its June 9 release. The timing of the claim just before the release seems cynical.

However, the makers of the Rs 55-crore romantic thriller have succeeded the legal battle after they submitted the entire script and explained in detail the differences between Raabta and Magadheera to the court paving way for its smooth release on Friday. The T-Series lawyer, Ankit Relan, went a step ahead submitted a list of 100 movies that dealt with the theme of reincarnation. The makers of Magadheera 'respectfully' withdrew their plea. Even before all this court drama, Raabta director Dinesh Vijan had offered to screen a show of his debut movie for Allu Aravind and decide for himself if it was a copy but the latter, reportedly, ignored the offer.

After all the hullabaloo, it only makes one wonder if the veteran producer needs a film studies lecture on the difference between genre, theme and plotline after producing more than 30 movies spanning across four long decades. Magadheera is not the first film where the story is a timeless love story based on the theme of reincarnation nor it can be the last. Further, Geetha Arts, founded in 1972, is not anywhere near bankruptcy which rules out the idea that the production house is looking to make some easy money by filing a copyright infringement suit. In fact, the last couple of movies bankrolled by the production house, have minted good money at the box office.

Cut to the chase, let's look into how 'original' was the original Magadheera. Amid all the legal tussle of Raabta-Magadheera, the unexpected twist in the tale was when author SP Chari filed a case in the city civil court claiming that the Ram Charan-starrer was indeed a copy of his 1998 novel 'Chanderi'. He demanded that he be given the story credit for the movie. His repeated attempts to contact the makers were declined by Allu Aravind only further exposing the hypocrisy of the mega producer when the ball is in his court.

One doesn't need to be an avid viewer of world cinema to realise the countless number of times Indian filmmakers lifted scenes straight from foreign language films, especially Hollywood. A mere youtube search with keywords "Magadheera scenes copied from" is enough to see the striking similarities in the story, plot and characterisations.

Take the Chinese movie, the Myth starring Jackie Chan. The IMDB description says, "Archaeologist Jack keeps having reoccurring dreams of a past life, where he is the great General Meng Yi, who is sworn to protect a Korean Princess named OK-soo. Jack decides to go investigate everything with his friend William." Also, the princess falls in love with the General and he refuses her proposal, just like in Magadheera. Not to mention the famous free fall scene.

Check out the below video to judge for yourself:

Does it ring a bell? Now if the makers of the Stanley Tong directorial approach court over copyright violation, it might cost a fortune for Allu Aravind and his Geetha Arts.