Is Shirish Kunder’s ‘Kriti’ Hugely Inspired By Nepali Film ‘Bob’?

A Nepali filmmaker accuses Shirish Kunder of plagiarism over his short film ‘Kriti’

Filmmaker Shirish Kunder’s just-released short psychological thriller Kriti, starring Manoj Bajpayee, Radhika Apte and Neha Sharma, has been winning rave reviews and has garnered more than 12 lakh views on YouTube.

But as it turns out, Kriti might not be an original after all. According to a Facebook post by Aneel Neupane, Kunder’s Kriti is a copy of his Nepali film Bob. Neupane’s short film Bob had been shared on Vimeo in October 2015 and YouTube on May 12, 2016.

You can watch Bob here.

And watch Kriti now if you haven’t already.

Spot the difference?

From the opening shots of the framed certificates of the psychiatrist with the protagonist in session, to the latter’s doubting the existence of his girlfriend, to the psychiatrist egging him on towards the violent climax - there seem to be marked similarities between the two films.

Nepali filmmaker Neupane took to Facebook to share how he made Bob with very little money and has no clue on how to take on the mighty Kunder for his “plagiarism”.

I’m angry not because Mr. Shirish Kunder practically stole the plot and made it into his film. I’m angry because We didn’t even have lunch money while shooting BOB, and a spot boy for Kriti probably made more money than BOB’s entire budget. My team and I didn’t work our asses off just so some rich dude from India could turn it into this and get away with it. That’s just not fair.

Aneel Neupane, Director, Bob

Read Neupane’s complete Facebook post here:

We reached out to Shirish Kunder for a reaction but did not receive a response. However, after this story went online, the filmmaker tweeted this:

To those comparing #Kriti with some short film released on May 12, 2016:#Kriti was shot in February, 2016.

Hope this settles the matter.

— Shirish Kunder (@ShirishKunder) June 24, 2016

About their claims of a private Vimeo link shared with close friends on October 2015:

I'm not even their friend. Let alone close friend.

— Shirish Kunder (@ShirishKunder) June 24, 2016