Like the warning found on all cigarette packets, it’s time to insert a statutory declaration at the beginning of all Bollywood movies:
This Indian movie may have been stolen in full or part from Hollywood and/or other foreign sources with impunity and reckless disregard for the intellectual property of others.
Indian media reports suggest that the climax of recent Bollywood hit Kahaani may have been stolen from the 2004 Hollywood film Taking Lives (Angelina Jolie, Ethan Hawke).
It’s no secret that Indian film-makers are notorious for stealing plots from Hollywood and foreign movies.
A bevy of Indian movie stars including Amitabh Bachchan, Ajay Devgan, Akshay Kumar, Salman Khan, Kamal Haasan, Aamir Khan, Vidya Balan, Vikram, Surya and many many others have been the rich beneficiaries of flagrant theft.
Watch the below YouTube video and decide for yourself if the Kahaani ending is original:
Related Posts:
Kahaani Profile on Wiki
Taking Lives – Wiki Profile
Kahaani Ending Stolen? added by SearchIndia.com on
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All I remember about Taking Lives was Ethan Hawk fucking Jolie in a raunchy sex scene.
Besides that the movie was crap.
SearchIndia.com Responds:
The movie received pretty poor reviews.
SI should watch and review this movie 🙂
http://www.rediff.com/movies/review/south-review-narasimha-is-for-ravichandran-fans-only/20120323.htm
SearchIndia.com Responds:
No, we’ll wait for Jayasimha! 😉
Ravichandran hit the big time in the mid-1980s with his Prema Loka film opposite Juhi Chawla.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XppFbXFcMbE
Well, it could as well been a coincidence.
But then should you even give away this spoiler??
SearchIndia.com Responds:
Coincidences with the Indian movie industry?
Whatever you’re drinking we’d like some of it.
Stop dreaming, Bollywood is comprised mostly of congenital thieves.
But then I understand if it is a blatant copy like Manmadhan Ambu.
Here it is only the climax, that too in unrelated scenarios. Did you mean to say he got inspired by this climax, and then he weaved out the whole story to support this logic at the end? That is ridiculous.
For that matter you can also say the ending is ‘copied’ from The Usual Suspects where the protagonist makes out stuff to deceive others. But the flow is entirely different in both the movies and you can never relate while watching the movie.
It is still not right to give away this spoiler when quite a few people have not yet seen the movie.
SearchIndia.com Responds:
1. You write: But then I understand if it is a blatant copy like Manmadhan Ambu….Here it is only the climax, that too in unrelated scenarios.
In life, sometimes you pay for the sins of your predecessors and the countless others who got off scot-free.
Indian movie-makers have stolen so blatantly for decades that no one believes any more that any originality exists in our movie industry.
If an Indian movie is in the least bit good people try hard to find evidence of where the director found his ‘inspiration.’
That’s what happened with Kahani and the so-called expose of the ending.
2. You write: It is still not right to give away this spoiler when quite a few people have not yet seen the movie.
You are right.
But only under normal circumstances.
Where there’s the slightest suspicion that an acclaimed artistic work lacks originality or that elements of a film have been filched from other sources then it’s not a review any longer.
Then it’s to be seen from the news-angle where all discussions are legitimate. The logic of the spoiler does not apply then.
Bottom line, it goes back to our earlier point that Indians no longer believe most of our film-makers are incapable of any original work because of the historical legacy of widespread stealing.
Surya and Aamir Khan might have gotten away with claims of the originality of Ghajini (lifted from Memento) but someone has to pay the price ultimately!
What you see with the Kahani ending controversy is inevitable.
The chronicle of a climax controversy foretold (thank you Gabriel Garcia Marquez).
@Shadowfax: It is still not right to give away this spoiler when quite a few people have not yet seen the movie.
I am one of the few people who haven’t seen the movie, but I avoided watching the clip as the title has the word “Ending”.. That is enough of a SPOILER alert.
And even stayed away from reading SI’s review (and any other review) as soon as I saw SI mention the word “thriller”..
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kKnKgK-uws4&feature=related
skip the first trailer… watche till the end.. you may find a film that interests you. they have missed porco russo, its also good. anyway watch and decide..
SearchIndia.com Responds:
Watched all the trailers.
Will likely watch My Neighbour Totoro and Nausicaä of The Valley of The Wind.
If you think the imagery in these animations look good, wait till James ‘Avatar’ Cameron releases the video footage from his recent deep(est) dive.
Very good selection.. will wait for the Cameron’s footage, he was good with ‘Aliens of the Deep’
Joe Hisaish also needs to be credited for Hayao Miyazaki films effectiveness. His music is heavenly.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zlrwJjnkpSw&feature=related
think I shared it a long time back.. doesn’t tire of hearing it, in all its variations..
SearchIndia.com Responds:
Just purchased the piano-only version on iTunes for the princely sum of 99-cents.
Not as good as the music in your link but good enough. Solid value for money!
Listening to it now.
they have even got toy box versions of many hits.. but i think youtube has got better collection as these are from video dvd releases and cannot be found as audio cds..
one more for you
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lDgkrDKPhLk&feature=endscreen&NR=1
SearchIndia.com Responds:
Good.
Howdy SI how are you sir ??
SearchIndia.com Responds:
Surprisingly, still alive & kicking.
i told u, story is similar to a sydney sheldon novel
An unstoppable force meets an immovable object 😀
http://www.kollytalk.com/cinenews/power-star-srinivasans-powerful-torture-with-photo-continues-unabated/
SearchIndia.com Responds:
Kamal Haasan has become so irrelevant even in the Tamil film industry that even one-film wonders like Sonakshi, Meenakshi, Visalakshi, Kamakshi et al are showing him the middle finger.
What are you saying? Kamal’s Vishwaroopam is all set to set the Cannes film festival ablaze!
He has also managed to rope in some mainstream Hollywood stunt coordinator.
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0924121/
http://www.behindwoods.com/tamil-movie-news-1/mar-12-03/kamal-haasan-viswaroopam-20-03-12.html
http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2012-03-01/news-interviews/31113453_1_viswaroopam-cannes-film-festival-tinsel-town
If media reports are to be believed, Cannes has dropped its panties and spread its legs for Kamal. Who can come near our dear Kamal Saaar?? Tell me? Tell me!! 😀
Some strong support from Orkut Community…
Kumaraswamy Ramalingam says: “Wow… So curious and eager to view the upcoming fantastic action thriller Viswaroopam with the puzzled valuable message to the universe.”
Srivatsa Narasimhan says: “The moment you hear this is first time they have changed their rules in history, that itself shows the respect thalaivar commends on global platform. I do not think he would have requested the deadline change, its just the Cannes jury who wanted to have the movie by then. No actor can even think of enjoying such liberty, leave alone competing in the festival.Proud to be a Kamalian and also very proud to share my b’day as same as Thalaivar’s 🙂
Raja Sekar replies to Srivatsa Narasimhan: yaa i know saga,, i mean world class actor only can do such magic…
u r very lucky saga… jealous of u…
Vijay SA says: “…we are sure the movie is upto international standards. Otherwise Kamalji won’t send the film.
By sending to Cannes he made sure the movie is global Stuff – Class
By Naming it Viswaroopam he made sure the movie is Commercial – Mass
So both Class + Mass assured!!”
SearchIndia.com Responds:
Given Kamal’s recent lackluster track record, the bozo has run out of creative juice.
Should Vishwaroopam win a prize or even be selected for screening in the Competitive category i.e. in the Official Selection of the Cannes Film Festival we’ll shut the SI blog down for one-week!
But the win and selection must be part of the 20-film In Competition section of the Cannes Festival. It cannot be in Out of Competition or any other category.
I agree on the creativity part.
His recent movies have been rather indifferent.
However, except for Manmadhan Ambu which was a disaster, his previous 3-4 movies were pretty successful in the box office.
Vishwaroopam winning / gets selected in any category is probably Kamal and his fan’s wet dream.
If that happens then I will eat only 1 soup per day for a week.
But we all know none of that is gonna happen. 😀
SearchIndia.com Responds:
You write: except for Manmadhan Ambu which was a disaster, his previous 3-4 movies were pretty successful in the box office.
We’d be surprised if Unnaipol Oruvan and Vettaiyaadu Vilaiyaadu made money.
The surprise element was gone in Unnaipol Oruvan since a lot of people had already watched the acclaimed original, i.e. Naseeruddin Shah’s A Wednesday.
Some Kamal fans went berserk over our Unnaipol Review. 😉
Both were successful movies. VV was classified “Blockbuster” and UPO a “Hit” by Sify.com, the only site that has been doing regular BO rankings for tamil movies for several years.
Vettaiyaadu Vilayaadu was definitely a big hit. It was the highest or second highest grosser of that year. I remember it had a proper 100 day run in a few theaters unlike movies that run on posters.
http://www.nowrunning.com/news/tamil/vettaiyadu-vilaiyadu-tops-pre-diwali-tamil-films/8185/story.htm
http://www.sify.com/movies/boxoffice.php?id=14327404&cid=13525926 (10th week)
http://www.sify.com/movies/2006-hits-misses-news-tamil-kkfvg4dgeah.html
http://specials.rediff.com/yearend/2006/dec/27yrslide1.htm
UPO was successful mainly because of its low budget.
http://www.sify.com/movies/boxoffice.php?id=14917107&cid=13525926 (4/5th week)
http://www.sify.com/movies/2009-kollywood-hits-misses-news-tamil-kkfrfMiibaa.html
http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/keyword/unnaipol-oruvan
SearchIndia.com Responds:
Perhaps they were BO successes.
On of the links in your list (TOI) goes so far as to hail Unnaipol Oruvan as a “megasuccess.” 😉
I just saw that. Only TOI would know what they mean by “megasuccess”!
SearchIndia.com Responds:
One of the reasons why we treat box office data from India with suspicion and great circumspection.
Other than for the obviously big hits like a Dabanng or a Ghajini, it’s hard to know the true picture for the lesser movies.
Different journalists/web sites describe the same movie in starkly different terms: Hit, Blockbuster, Megasuccess.
Look at the difference in the level of morality.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/europe/Hungarian-president-resigns-over-plagiarism-scandal/articleshow/12505373.cms
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/music/news-and-interviews/Abhijeet-Bhattacharya-accuses-Housefull-2-makers-of-plagiarism/articleshow/12501879.cms
SearchIndia.com Responds:
Our beloved Vice President Joe Biden is no different.
During his Presidential campaign, Joe Biden stole former British Labor party politician Neil Kinnock’s speech.
Source:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Rkoqglq9dU
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/barackobama/2607505/Joe-Biden-plagiarised-Neil-Kinnock-speech.html
***SPOILER ALERT***
There is a dialogue in the movie in which A.Khan(Siddiqui) tells the protagonist:
“No one suspects a pregnant woman.”
1.)Vidya, who received aid from a retired Colonel, would probably have realized that herself. That pregnancy part could have probably been a tactic on Vidya’s part to elicit some sympathy. Besides, Satyoki Sinha and that NDC Head empathized with her because she was pregnant. This factor itself emphasizes the importance of that pregnancy angle.
2.)The pregnancy troubles were also used by Vidya to avoid signing the FIR in the Police Station(regardless of the fact that the FIR would not come to effect without her signature)
3.)Vidya uses her vulnerability to extract some sympathy from the Police Informer and persuades him to extract one last piece of information.
In Kahaani, the pregnancy factor was intricately woven with the storyline, unlike Taking Lives where the pregnancy part was inserted in the end. Of course, this is solely my opinion. Yours, SI?
SearchIndia.com Responds:
I’ve most likely seen only bits & pieces of Taking Lives.
I’ll watch the movie in full and review it in the next 10-days or earlier.
If you read the above post, I’ve cited Indian media reports.
I’ve seen both movies and there is nothing similar.
I just finished watching Kahaani on NFLX.
Superb Indian thriller I’ve seen in a long long time. The best part is that the movie is unpredictable, and that’s not a small thing considering today’s audience is very good at guessing.
I loved the performances of each and every actor, including the kids.
SearchIndia.com Responds:
My favorite bit about Vidya Balan is that she was once picked for a Tamil film, thrown out after a few days of shooting because the Director was dissatisfied with her work and replaced with that chimp Trisha Krishnan!
Vidya Balan never looked back after that! 😉
Life is way too funny in retrospect!