India’s Oscar Entrant Film Homebound Faces Plagiarism Allegations

Just days after “Homebound” got shortlisted to the final list of foreign films vying for Best Foreign Feature Film nomination at the 98th Academy Awards, the critically acclaimed Hindi movie landed in legal trouble. The film was directed by award-winning filmmaker Neeraj Ghaywan, who had previously crafted “Masaan.”

Author and journalist Puja Changoiwala has filed a complaint against Dharma Productions and Netflix India, accusing them of plagiarising her 2021 novel of the same name. According to the author, Homebound not only takes the title from her book but blatantly reproduces substantial portions of the story, particularly in the second half of the movie.

She stated that even the scenes, dialogues, narrative structure, sequence of works, and the migrant exodus of 2020 that happened during COVID-19 times are the themes grabbed from her book. Her lawyer is said to have sent a notice to Dharma Productions on October 15h, outlining alleged copyright violations. She initiated legal action under Section 12A of the Commercial Courts Act, 2015.

Dharma Productions has, however, declined to comment on the allegations, adding that they will address the matter through legal channels only. After being showcased at the Cannes Film Festival, Homebound won Oscar-list status, and the film was a blockbuster on Netflix too, as it reached the top charts in no time.