Shirish Kunder being victimized: Manoj Bajpayee on ‘Kriti’ controversy

Actor Manoj Bajpayee, who is playing one of the lead roles in Shirish Kunder directorial ‘Kriti’- short film that is facing controversy over copyright issues, says it was hurtful to hear someone calling you a “thief”.

“For me, it was hurtful because I saw everything happening in front of me and then someone comes and says ‘Aap chor hai’ (you are a thief),” said Bajpayee during a press conference on Friday of the film that is facing charges of plagiarism and was pulled down by YouTube amid the legal tussle between the director and Nepali filmmaker Aneel Neupane.

“Shirish is known for full feature films and not for niche, short or experimental films and that they had discussed the idea before shooting it. I am feeling bad for Shirish,” added the actor who also feels that the director is victimised by a “crook” for “no fault of his”.

Lambasting Neupane, Bajpayee said that they had to face criticism on the social media for such a person whose “viewership did not even crossed 1,500 views from May” and that their film had received 10 lakh viewership in one day.

The 18-minute short film, which also stars Neha Sharma and Radhika Apte tells the story of a mentally ill person played by Manoj, this short was released online on June 22.

The film gained huge appreciation and came into limelight when a filmmaker from Nepal accused Shirish by saying that he has stolen the concept of ‘Kriti’ which was originally his brainchild.

Inputs from IANS

Also Read: ALLEGATION THAT ‘KRITI’ IS COPIED BASELESS: SHIRISH KUNDER

Amod Pandit

Quiet, resonant, and creative, he can be seen immersed in his own world, and puts in his heart and soul into the one passion that he has, Bollywood. His line for survival? Feel happy to be a part of it.