Copying is our birthright: Top Directors

Copying has been integral part Tollywood movies these days. The issue again came up with Thamancopying the song Pilla Chao in Businessman from an Italian song. When asked about this Tollywood makers say It's tough to survive in these highly demanding times as makers fall in the race of scoring blockbusters and setting records. There are many occasions where directors copied contemporary movies yet they managed to score blockbusters.

Recently, when SS Thaman was asked about the source of the song, Puri Jagannadh defended him saying, "It was my idea.It's not new, we also did the same for Pokiri. Nothing we make is original since it has to be inspired from somewhere." It is embarrassing to see a so called creative director admitting to this.

Panjaa producer, Shobu Yarla­gadda says, "Copying is the easiest way to get the desired output because you already know how it will look on screen. The copyright law has no teeth, but the daysomeone gets sued for a hefty amount for copying, I think it will stop." It's known to everybody that his film Maryada Ramanna is a exact copy of a Hollywood movie.

Writers and other technicians blame it on Producers,Directors and Heroes. "No one does it intentionally.Sometimes it is forced upon us,People suggest a lot of things as a reference and the onus is upon us to adapt such scenes." explains Gopi Mohan, a leading scriptwriter. "I think there are very few honest filmmakers here and I don’t consider myself one of them. I blame even the audience for this. Honest films haven’t been appreciated, so filmmakers tend to copy. When the filmmakers themselves aren’t honest, they can never fight this problem" says filmmaker Anand Ranga.

Audience don't necessarily agree to it. There have been many movies which have got potential, scored good marks at box-office. "Makers who want to get rich quicker are adapting this formula of copying.Why don't the makers take inspiration from genuine movies. Audience always encourage good movies irrespective of if thats is genuine or it's copied. If makers are honest they can make good movies." exclaims Kiran, a Movie lover. "Why big heroes always run behind records when they can afford to experiment as they have huge market. If they come forward with such ideas, producers will automatically follow them" he added. Let us hope we see some genuine movies soon.