Screenwriter Juhi Chaturvedi has denied the plagiarism claims against Shoojit Sircar’s 'Gulabo Sitabo'. The film, which stars Amitabh Bachchan and Ayushmann Khuranna, tells the story of a 78-year-old landlord and his tenant in Lucknow.
Recently, Akira Agarwal, the son of late writer Rajeev Agarwal, had accused Juhi of plagiarising her father’s story. Akira’s lawyer claimed that he had submitted the story for the Cinestaan India’s Storyteller Script Contest promoted by The Screenwriters Association (SWA) in 2018.
Juhi was a jury member of the contest along with two others. Responding to the allegations, Juhi said she had pitched the idea of ‘a crooked old man’ with Amitabh Bachchan in 2017, who had liked the idea and asked her to develop it.
“My conscience is clear and so are the facts in this matter,” Juhi said. “Gulabo Sitabo is my original work and I am proud of it. I shared the idea with the director and lead actor of the film in early 2017. I subsequently registered the concept note for the film in May 2018.”