Netflix breaks silence on Gandhari plagiarism row, defends originality

The plagiarism controversy surrounding Taapsee Pannu’s upcoming Netflix film Gandhari came up at the film’s trailer launch in Mumbai on Tuesday, with Netflix Original Films director Ruchikaa Kapoor Sheikh and writer-producer Kanika Dhillon addressing the allegations for the first time publicly. Both maintained that the film is an original work and said a clearer picture would emerge once audiences watched the trailer and the film.
Writer Kalyan Bandi, an IIT Madras alumnus who works as an Inspector with Central GST and Customs, has alleged that Gandhari bears similarities to a story he wrote and registered in 2019, also titled Gandhari. He has claimed that he pitched the story to Monika Shergill, who was then with Voot and is now a Vice President at Netflix, and later sent a legal notice seeking compensation and credit. Dhillon’s production house Kathha Pictures has previously rejected the allegations.
At the trailer launch, Ruchikaa Kapoor Sheikh said Netflix takes questions of originality and artistic attribution seriously.
“You know, at Netflix, we take originality and artistic attribution very seriously. I want to make it very clear here that we receive multiple pitches, and the pitch in question is very different from Kanika and Taapsee’s Gandhari,” she said.
She added that she did not want to make further assumptions about the matter and urged audiences to watch the film.
“I won’t make any other assumptions or push this further. Please watch the film, watch the trailer, and as the film comes out, you will see. But we are always committed to the originality of our storytellers, whether someone is on a streak of five or six things or if this is their first time,” she said.
Dhillon, who has worked as a writer before turning producer, said she understood the sentiments of another writer but maintained that she had never met Bandi.
“You know, I’m a writer myself first and then a producer, so I totally respect somebody’s sentiments. But in this particular case, I’ve never met the writer, and I don’t know their journey,” she said.
Dhillon added that she believed the similarities being alleged would be easier to assess once the story was seen in full. “I think once you hear the story, once you understand what the story is about, then you’ll have a much clearer picture. And like Ruchikaa said, as a platform, Netflix is committed to very stringent rules and parameters,” she said.
“So I think there will be a clear picture once everything comes out. I have already mentioned that this is a completely original script, I just hope you all enjoy the film,” Dhillon added.
The controversy began after Kalyan Bandi claimed that Taapsee’s Gandhari shared similarities with a story he had written and registered in 2019. Bandi said his story centred on a mother who takes on the persona of a fierce goddess while attempting to rescue her child from a child-trafficking racket.