Hollywood sues Bollywood over Hari Puttar
Posted on 02 September 2008 by Pras Geng
It has been a very long time coming, but finally Bollywood is receiving the slap on the wrist that its Western viewers have always anticipated.
British media reports claim that the Hollywood studio behind the Harry Potter movies is suing Bombay based Bollywood film makers, Mirchi Movies, for using a movie title that is a little too similar to the JK Rowling’s book/film about the famous young wizard.
The Hindi movie, titled ‘Hari Puttar: A Comedy of Terrors’, was filmed in England and tells the story of Hari Prasad Dhoonda, nicknamed Hari Puttar, who moves to Britain at the age of 10. He is on a mission to save a top secret computer chip, developed by his father, which was stolen by intruders when he was home alone. So far so good, right?
Hari, unlike the wizard Harry Potter, has no magical powers. In fact, this movie is not based on wizardry or fantasy at all. However, to make matters worse, Mirchi Movies was quoted saying that they do not see any resemblance between the two names and that any similarities between the two characters are purely coincidental. This has got to be a bad joke as the play on words is very evident to Hindi speakers and movie lovers alike. On the other hand, it does seem that Warner Bros are a tad bit paranoid about this one; the actual film itself is really very different from the famous franchise.
This incident does however spark a whole host of debate on the originality of the Bollywood film industry and the sheer cheekiness at hand. Even though “‘Hari Puttar” has a completely dissimilar storyline, there have been Bollywood movies in the past where entire Hollywood scripts have been shamelessly plagiarised. A recent one which springs to mind is ‘Partner’ starring Salman Khan. The film is almost an exact replica of Will Smith’s hit movie ‘Hitch’. Salman Khan’s character, Prem, is a self-titled ‘love guru’ and helps men land the women of their dreams.
The Warner Bros vs. Hari Puttar case will be heard at the Bombay High court soon, while the film is due for release on the 12th of September.
Do you think that Bollywood film makers should have the right to copy Western movies simply because the language is different? Should they perhaps pay a premium for whenever they use Hollywood characters, movie titles or entire story lines? Do you think Bollywood should make a Hindi adaptation of ‘Showgirls’ or ‘Brokeback Mountain’? Do share your thoughts.
  (12 votes. Average: 4.3 out of 5) |
Tags : harry potter, warner bros
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September 2nd, 2008 at 12:39 pm
lol @ them denying the similarities of the name.
But yeah:
Kaante = Reservoir Dogs
Krish = ET?
Urm, erm… I’m not a a big bollywood fan, so someone help me finsih the list :)
September 2nd, 2008 at 1:04 pm
lol funny i agree with the partner film similar to Hitch and the film above that asim wrote but i dont agree with Hari Puttar, as in ‘Puttar’ is a punjabi word. thats just silly
and its not like Hollywod film dont take one film change certain characters and props and then there a new film
eg. Transformer = Independence day
The props are different cars = Alien but the format and story line was the same i felt so bored half way because i could predicted the end
so i dont watch many hollywood films but i can analyse them well im sure a hollywood fan can list the rest..
September 2nd, 2008 at 5:34 pm
Wasn’t there a Bollywood remake of Fight club?
Koi… Mil Gaya was ET!
Hari Puttar is a great title though. :)
September 2nd, 2008 at 11:14 pm
Its about freakin time Hollywood took action.!!.. I think ‘Bollywood’ has been too blatant in ripping off good movies from Hollywood and regurgitating them as a badly screened desi flick.
For those here its a joke when you want to watch a desi movie believing it will be good, and finding out within the first few minutes…that you know exactly how its going to play through. 90 minutes of screening time tuned into 3 hours ofa badly repeated story line with music and fantasy thrown in..not to mention alot of terrible acting in most cases. Desi movies are made for the western audience?..are they not blind to see we have already seen the movie once? Is it just the glitz and glamour we go for?
My point.. Royalties need to be payed..aswell as respect for the storyline, as we all know tis whats makes a movie is not big named people!!
And as for the titles?..mmmmm well its dirty, and more of a joke, and definitely disrespectful to what we all know it is trying to be! Even though the title and movie has no solid relation to the orignal, but you can tell they have tried… it mocks the industry, the desi accent and the way we look at Bollywood in its thought process…..’Knock off Nigels’
September 2nd, 2008 at 11:15 pm
Im sick of Bollywood Copying everything Possible, They need to be more original
its about time Hollywood have taken action..
Not only do Bollwood copy but they do A really bad job of it,
when are they going to learn.
The new Film God Tusi Great Ho which is a copy of Bruce Almighty, is absoulutly Terrible
That film is far from Great they should remove that Word from the Title
SKY
September 2nd, 2008 at 11:16 pm
Da new movi by salman khan, God, tussi great ho, is an exact copy of jim carey’s bruce almighty..
September 2nd, 2008 at 11:16 pm
Hollywood NEVER copies, dont they? ;)
September 2nd, 2008 at 11:17 pm
Hollywood does copy films
but they always tell that its a remake and they actually tell you who they actually are making a remake off.
But you can never compare quality and effort they take with these type of films
when Bollywood do it ther is no mention of the original and also they present it as an original. also not to metion the terrible job at it
SKY
September 2nd, 2008 at 11:18 pm
Plaigerism and inspiration is human nature, pure originality is impossible almost, due to the 100s of movies that hollywood and bollywood churn out every year. I think we have much more prominant issues to discuss, rather then how movie bigwigs will make their next million.
September 3rd, 2008 at 7:14 am
Laura and Faz, the trouble is that Bollywood doesn’t give credit to the original and always passes it off as a brand new movie whereas Hollywood, whether it is a remake or an adaption from a foreign movie, they always give credit where credit is due.
Plagiarism and inspiration shouldn’t be mentioned in the same breath lol
September 4th, 2008 at 10:20 am
I think they should. That would be great.. Amitabh Bachan and Shatrugan Sinha - it’d be called “toota hua pahar” :P
September 4th, 2008 at 10:34 am
If you guys are tired of Hollywood and Bollywood, then you should watch films made by our friends in the far sides of Asia…….. now that is quality film making.
Films’ I would recommend……
City of Violence (Highly recommended)
Sex is Zero 1 and 2
Shutter
Bittersweet Life
Battle Royale
The Vengance Trilogy (everyone should have seen these films)
R Point
Infernal Affairs
Hard Boiled
Itchi the Killer
The Host
Seven Samurai (the orginal)
Ran
Crying Fist
The list goes on… But trust me, these guys know how to make great movies
September 4th, 2008 at 10:34 am
Its time Bollywood pulled back up its trousers from the ankle and said “we sorry yaar, we wont do it again”. Bollywood is already loosin its sense of “desiness” in my eyes in majority of its films. They soo westernised that I wouldn’t be suprised if they released an “original fake copy” of Brokeback Mountain. I suppose Salman Khan wud finally find the ideal character to play in that one! Lol.
That aside, the traditional eccense of bollywood films is vanishin, hopefully this puts them bak on the right path.
September 4th, 2008 at 10:35 am
Its not Bad to Re-Make or Dub the Movie .. Guess What alotts Sub-Continental Audience couldnt Understand HEAT .. Plus most of the Sub-Continent people aint see Hollywood Movies thou!! They Reproduced it with Local Industry Heroes..”Kantaye”.. Its not bad to reproduce the Original Script ..
Hitch!! was released and went back packing .. But the Same Story-line Production PARTNER became a Huge Success … Guess What ?? Govinda even got the reward for the Movie .. :)
Any ways i am against Plagiurism .. U cant force INDIANS on any thing .. They are an emerging Super-Power .. if they can Dictate The Nuclear Deal with USA .. they can do any thing :)
September 4th, 2008 at 10:36 am
yah “maine pyar kiu ki ye” is a copy of lots of episodes from “Friends”:@…….if dey copy lyk dis i hpe dey r mentioning it in da mvy or smwhr
September 19th, 2008 at 10:58 pm
Harry Potter isn’t the most original thing in the world to begin with…
And nobody should ever make a remake of ‘Showgirls’, where ever they’re from :)
October 17th, 2008 at 10:29 pm
JUST TO NAME A FEW AS I CAN BE HERE ALL DAY….
KRAZY 4- DREAM TEAM
DEEWANE HUYE PAGAL-SOMETHING ABOUT MARY
PYAR TO HONA HI THA- FRENCH KISS
SHUKRIYA- -MEET JOE BLACK
HEYY BABYY -THREE MEN AND A BABY
EENA MEENA DHEEKA-3 FUGITIVES