The Indian film industry is a dominant cultural force in its own right. Especially in the Indian subcontinent and in various other parts of the world, it wields considerable influence, despite the preponderance of the culturally and commercially stronger Hollywood and its stranglehold on movie audiences around the world. However, rampant plagiarism and unauthorized copying from Hollywood and other international films has been a long-standing malaise hampering the reputation of Bollywood as a major creative source of original intellectual property. Barfi! () was one of the major Bollywood films of 2012 to achieve both commercial success and critical acclaim. However, some of the scenes in the film have been copied ‘frame-for-frame’ from various international hits and classics. Additionally, a case of trademark violation was filed against the producers of the film and the music was also alleged to be copied from the soundtrack of the French film Amélie (). This article looks at the contentious issue of plagiarism in the Indian film industry. It cites and discusses numerous examples of plagiarism in Bollywood and analyses the specific case of the film Barfi!
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- INTRODUCTION
- COPYRIGHTS AND INDIAN FILMS
- THE CASE OF BARFI!
- NOT SO SWEET: A DISCUSSION ON WHAT'S WRONG WITH BARFI!
- The sliding-door sequence in The Adventurer (1917)
- The sliding-door sequence in Barfi! (2012)
- The ladder sequence in Cops (1922)
- The ladder sequence in Barfi! (2012)
- The clock has been turned back!
- The guy holding the clock
- Barfi turning the clock back (of course Bollywood copies but does it in its grand style!)
- The statue unveiling scene from Chaplin's City Lights (1931)
- The doll sequence from Singin' in the Rain (1952)
- The bicycle chase sequence from Jackie Chan's Project A (1983)
- CONCLUSION
- REFERENCES
- Films
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