Mar 26, 2026 4:55pm IST
Sujoy Ghosh on SC Verdict In ‘Kahaani 2’ Copyright Infringement Case: Like an “Oscar win” After years of “One Battle After Another” (EXCLUSIVE)
Praising the Supreme Court of India judgment quashing criminal proceedings against him in an alleged copyright infringement case, director Sujoy Ghosh called it a landmark moment for him and the writing community.
On March 20, a bench of Justices P.S. Narasimha and Alok Aradhe called the proceedings instituted against Ghosh “manifestly frivolous and vexatious” and set aside the summoning order issued by the Chief Judicial Magistrate, Hazaribagh (Jharkhand).
The verdict ended nearly a decade of prolonged legal battle for Ghosh. Speaking exclusively to Variety India, the director says, “[This ruling] will hugely help our writing community. It was a great judgment which lays out the steps one must follow before accusing anyone of copying." The filmmaker wryly likens the verdict to an “Oscar win” after years of what he describes as “one battle after another.”
It all started in December 2016 when a (unnamed) person filed a complaint before Screenwriters Association (SWA) alleging that “Kahaani 2” infringed the copyright of his script, “Sabak”. “I got a call from SWA saying that a person is claiming that his script is similar to my film ‘Kahaani 2: Durga Rani Singh’. I said no, because it wasn’t. My film was based on a small incident which my wife told me about when I was making ‘Kahaani’. And then it was developed by me and Suresh Nair, with Ritesh Shah doing the dialogues. As far as I was concerned, that was it,” he notes.
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The SWA, however, could not ignore the claim and set up a Dispute Settlement Committee where established professional experts reviewed both the complainant’s script and the film, and came to the conclusion that there was no similarity between “Kahaani 2” and the script of “Sabak”, consequently rejecting the complaint in February 2018.
Despite this, the person went ahead and filed a legal case before the Chief Judicial Magistrate, Hazaribagh, alleging Ghosh for unauthorised use of his script. Realizing that it was a money-grab ploy, the director decided that “the choice was to settle or fight.”
He chose to fight and thus began what he describes as a prolonged and distressing legal ordeal. “There were moments I got very scared, especially when there were police involved. I was getting calls from the opposite side saying that they’re going to get me arrested any minute. It does bother you because one is not used to all this sh*t and people around you are also suffering for no fault of their own. But I had to fight because if I didn’t, it would open a Pandora's box. Anybody anywhere would be able to randomly put a false case on any writer and get away with it,” Ghosh shares.
Chief Judicial Magistrate (CJM), Hazaribagh took up the case prima facie, while Ghosh approached the Jharkhand High court seeking to quash the proceedings. When the High Court declined to intervene, he approached the matter to the Supreme Court. The apex Court examined the timeline of script submissions, film release, etc, and found that “Ghosh’s work clearly preceded the complainant’s script in point of time”, and the question of copyright infringement did not even arise as the “complainant’s script was not even in existence” when Ghosh registered his screenplay.
“What I have learnt (through these legal fights) is that one should never give in to bullies. You must fight what is wrong,” says the director reflecting on the journey. “If you are a writer, ideally you should become a member of the Screenwriters Association (SWA) and always register your script with them. One of my key strengths in this battle was that ‘Kahaani 2: Durga Rani Singh’ was registered two years before the other script,” he says, adding, “There can always be some similarities in two different scripts. In every film, two people fall in love. That doesn’t mean all films are the same but the claims are this frivolous. So having your script registered really helps.”
Ghosh calls SWA a lifeline for writers and encourages them to approach the film body in case of disputes. “If you are confident that you haven’t done anything wrong you must approach the SWA. They will do everything in their power to help you and have a very fair way of assessing claims. They will set up a committee to evaluate your claim and give a fair judgment. And that’s how it should be.”
Recalling the association’s stance during his case, Ghosh added, “In my case, I did go to them. I think the SWA also realized the gravity of the matter and what future impact it could have on other writers. So they said only one word to me: ‘Fight’. That’s all I needed.”
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