Poet Yahya Bootwala accuses Kesari 2 writer of plagiarism over Ananya Panday's dialogue, internet reacts

Kesari Chapter 2 landed in trouble after poet and lyricist Yahya Bootwala accused the film’s writer Sumit Saxena of plagiarism on Saturday. The poet claimed a dialogue from his poem Jallianwala Bagh has been used as Ananya Panday’s dialogue from the film.

Kesari Chapter 2 dialogue accused of plagiarism

Bootwala's poem was posted on his YouTube channel UnErase Poetry in 2020.

He shared an excerpt from the poem along with the alleged scene from the film, drawing a side-by-side comparison. It read, "So @nisoooooooooorg sent me a clip 4 days back from the movie Kesari 2 of dialogues he felt were copied from my poem, titled Jallianwala Bagh, published 5 years ago on @unerasepoetry YouTube channel. Here are the two clips and honestly, this is a clear copy-paste.”

He also said, “It’s not like they’ve tried to hide it as well, matlab phusphusana jaisa shabd bhi uthaya hai (they have copied a word like ‘phusphusana’) . Yes, logo ke khayal mil sakte hai (people can have similar thoughts), people can think in a similar way but kisi ek topic par bilkul ek jaisi lines likh dena (writing the same lines on the same topic) is anything but a coincidence.”

He further criticised Sumit and added, “As writers, the worst thing you can do to a fellow writer is pick their material up, blatantly use it without giving credits and this is what I feel dialogue writer @sumit.saxena.35912 has done here.” He also took to his Instagram Story to share his post. Tagging Sumit, he wrote, “I’m sure you know this, the worse you can do as a writer is steal some other writer’s work without crediting them for it.”

The poet also tagged director Karan Singh Tyagi and producer Karan Johar alongside Akshay Kumar and Ananya Panday.

Instagram deletes poet's video

The video is no longer available on the platform. Bootwala who did not remove it, clarified, "The reel about Kesari 2 using my lines has been taken off from my Instagram. I haven't removed the reel.

“Nonetheless, I will keep talking about the issue till the matter is resolved and keep you guys updated as you all have been kind enough to come to my aid and support me. I have nothing but love and gratitude for you guys and ummeed hai ke (hopefully) this gets resolved soon. Aap log bhi saath banaye rakhiye and is baat ko jitna amplify kar sakte hai utna karte rahiye (keep supporting me and amplifying this matter). Thankyou again.”

Internet reacts to alleged plagiarism by Kesari 2 writer

Reacting to the poet's post, a user wrote in the comments, “Oh well, ofc :’) and this was a film about injustices (sic).” “Thanks for choosing to fight. I know this is tough but it’ll help so many other artists in the future apart from serving the justice to your work,” added another.

Someone also said, “It is totally unprofessional... Following your poems since 2019... It could be a proud moment for us which eventually turned into disappointment towards Bollywood... (sic)”

The film team is yet to respond.