I request the author to watch the film: Kaushik Ganguly

Four National Awards and rave reviews later, plagiarism charges have surfaced against filmmaker Kaushik Ganguly’s Nagarkirtan. Last November, his Jyesthoputra got mired in a similar controversy involving Pratim D Gupta. The latter had initially claimed to have written the original script of Anya Nayak along with director Rituparno Ghosh. “My only grouse was that when two people write a script and one among them is no more, the other person has the first ‘right of refusal’ to make the film.I was pissed that I didn’t get this chance. Kaushikda told me that he had no clue about my involvement in the writing. He has told me that he will credit me in the film,” said Pratim on Wednesday. Now, author Swapnamoy Chakraborty has alleged that Kaushik has plagiarised from his award-winning novel titled Holde Golap. He even went on to point that Kaushik’s 2005 film, Shunyo E Buke, was a lift from Abul Bashar’s Naram Hridoyer Chinho. We get all sides of the developing story. Read on...
Author Swapnamoy Chakraborty has alleged that Nagarkirtan is based on his story, Holde Golap, and that he hasn’t been credited for it…
Out of my 23 films, 22 are original stories based on my experiences in life. The 23rd story is based on someone else’s idea and I went to his home, met his brother, took permission from him and developed a completely new story from it. If I were to develop my film on Swapnamoy Chakraborty’s story, I would have felt honoured. He is a renowned author and I have a lot of respect for him. But I wouldn’t have resorted to a sly approach. Those who are making irresponsible comments on social media are disrespecting both the film and me. I would request the author to watch the film at the earliest.
In the film, the protagonist is called Parimal, which is the same as the one in the book…
I did a lot of back calculation while coming up with the name. See, eunuchs are often referred to as chhakka, but every time my protagonist plays ludo, he ends up delivering a ‘put’, so he is called Puti. Transgenders are subjected to a lot of ridicule; they are asked, ‘ki re dana kata pari naki’. Pari, I felt, was just apt. Also, it could be the abridged version for either Paritosh or Parimal. Now, Paritosh is a verymasculine name, and Parimal, on the other hand, has ‘mal’ in it. ‘Mal’ is an ornament and the name came across as just perfect for my narrative. Also, if I were to steal someone’s story, why would I retain the name. Does a criminal who kills, leaves clues behind knowingly? Also, in about 100 films, Amitabh Bachchan stuck to the screen name, Vijay…
Like in the book and in the film, the protagonist has feelings for his master/teacher…
Like in an extramarital, there’s always a man or a woman, it’s obvious for a transgender to develop feelings for another person who is bisexual. It was a crisis that I had shown in Ushnotar Jonyo and also later, in Arekti Premer Golpo, where the master likes a woman and goes away with her. During the freedom movement, Surya Sen, Khudiram and many others worked with the same goal in mind. It’s not that one freedom fighter was copying another. The editor of the magazine, where Swapnamoy Chakraborty’s novel came out in a series, wrote a piece on my film. I asked him if he found any similarity between the two and his answer was a big no.
There are dialogues in the film on getting the operation done ‘part by part’. It was the same in the novel as well…
A Sex Reassignment Surgery takes a lot of money and my character doesn’t come from an affluent background. He expresses the desire to get it done and the question asked here is if it can be done in instalments. I don’t think there’s any other way you can express this.
Manabi Bandopadhyay said she’s the common source for both Holde Golap and Nagarkirtan. Ever felt that she could have been credited as a co-author?
I have given due credit to Manabi Bandopadhyay; she is present in a big way in the film. We have been in talks for the film for very long. She was an important part of Ushnotar Jonyo and also, Arekti Premer Golpo. Now, how I give her credit in the film is between the two of us.
There have been three allegations in your long career. While Swapnamoy Chakraborty has alleged that Nagarkirtan is a lift from his story, Abul Bashar previously said Shunyo E Buke is from his novel, Norom Hridoyer Chinho and recently, Pratim D Gupta said he was developing the concept of Jyesthoputra with Rituparno Ghosh…
Pratim’s is a completely different thing, which should not be confused with the rest. I did not know that he was developing the concept and spoke to him about it. Rituparno Ghosh will be given the credit for the main concept. Bumbada (Prosenjit Chatterjee) and I had heard about the concept from Rituparno Ghosh and thought we could develop this into a story. The issue with Pratim was immediately resolved. About Shunyo E Buke, it came out as a novel in the same paper that carried Naram Hridoyer Chinho as a series. When he came to know about it, he didn’t tell me anything further.
Last but not the least, a character in your film meets with the same ending as that in the book. Is that too much of a coincidence?
It’s the same ending that another character met in Arekti Premer Golpo. These incidents are rampant and happening around us all the time. My film is holding a mirror to society. There’s nothing more to it than that.