Allegation that 'Kriti' is copied baseless: Shirish Kunder

Filmmaker Shirish Kunder has rubbished the claims that his recently released short film "Kriti" is a copy of another short movie.

Aneel Neupane, a filmmaker from Nepal wrote on his Facebook page that Kunder's psychological-thriller starring Manoj Bajpayee was a copy of his short movie "Bob" and alleged that the "Jaan-E-Mann" director "practically stole the plot and made it into his film."

Neupane wrote that his film was ready in October 2015 and he uploaded it on Vimeo "as a private video to share it with close friends" before releasing it on YouTube on May 12, this year.

Kunder's film was released online on June 22 with much fan fare where actress Kangana Ranaut was the special guest.

When contacted, Kunder told PTI, "That short film ('Bob') was released on May 12 whereas we shot 'Kriti' in February, after which it was in post production. How is it even possible to 'lift' the idea, unless I was time travelling ?"

"These allegations are technically, factually and logically, baseless," he said.

The "Joker" director, while addressing the allegations that "Bob" was released online in October, said the film was shared exclusively with Neupane's set of friends and there was no way he could have seen it.

"Their another claim is that they shared a private Vimeo link with their close friends in October. Now, I am not even friends with the makers and the video was private so how can I see it ? I am not alleging anything against them, but it seems like an act just to gain some publicity."

The 18-minute short film "Kriti" also starring Radhika Apte and Neha Sharma, deals with the complexities of a character's mind. The short film was met with positive response from many Bollywood personalities and the audience.

When asked if he is saddened by the allegations, the 43-year-old director said, "All of this just spoils the fun of everything."