‘Maidaan’ makers issue statement after plagiarism claims

The Mysore Principal District & Sessions court reportedly ordered a stay on ‘Maidaan’’s release following plagiarism allegations by a screenwriter

The makers of Ajay Devgn-starrer sports biopic Maidaan have expressed their intent to move the Karnataka High Court after a Mysore district court reportedly ordered a stay on the film’s release following a plagiarism claim.

Maidaan dramatizes the life journey of football coach Syed Abdul Rahim, responsible for India’s second gold medal win at the 1962 Asian Games.

Anil Kumar, a Karnataka-based screenwriter, has accused the makers of plagiarising his script based on India’s sporting history. According to a report in News18, Kumar claimed that he had written a story based on India’s expulsion from the FIFA World Cup in 1950 in 2010. Years later, he contacted and shared the script with ad filmmaker Sukhdas Suryavanshi.

“In 2010, I started writing the story & in 2018, I posted a poster about this, & I got in contact with ad director Sukhdas Suryavanshi through my LinkedIn post. He called me to Bombay (Mumbai) & asked me to get the script. I have the whole chat history. He told me that he’d make me meet Aamir Khan, but I couldn’t meet him for certain reasons. I gave him the story & registered the same with the Screen Writers Association (SWA),” Kumar was quoted as saying by News18.

Suryavanshi went on to serve as an assistant director on Maidaan.

“Recently, I heard that a movie named Maidaan is getting released. I was surprised because even I have the same story. When I looked at the teaser & their statements, I got to know that it was my story. They have twisted the main story itself & made this movie. I named the story Paadakanduka,” Kumar added.

Following Kumar’s complaint, the Principal District & Session court in Mysore reportedly ordered an injunction on Maidaan’s release. The next hearing for the case is slated for April 24.