Kesari Chapter 2 faces plagiarism allegations from Poet Yahya Bootwala, makers accused of copying lines from his poem

Bootwala has accused the makers of Kesari Chapter 2 of copying lines from one of his poems on Jallianwala Bagh and using it as dialogues in the film, without his permission.

Kesari Chapter 2 starring Akshay Kumar, Madhavan and Ananya Panday is currently making waves in the theatres after its release on April 18. However, the film has recently landed in a controversy after YouTuber and poet Yahya Bootwala alleged the makers of plagiarizing lines from his original poem and using without his knowledge in the film.

Bootwala has accused the makers of Kesari Chapter 2 of copying lines from one of his poems on Jallianwala Bagh and using it as dialogues in the film, without his permission.

Expressing his disappointment and seeking answers from the makers, he took to Instagram and shared a video in which he is performing the poem along with a clip of Ananya Panday delivers similar lines. Bootwala's Instagram post included a strongly worded note directed at the film's dialogue writer, Sumit Saxena, accusing him of copying his work.

Along with he video he wrote in the caption, "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 and it’s not like they’ve tried to hide it as well, matlab phusphusana jaisa shabd bhi uthaya hai (They have even lifted words like phusphasana). 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."

However, he  deleted the post later.

To draw attention to the issue, he urged his fans to tag well-known figures from the movie, including Ananya Panday, Akshay Kumar, Karan Johar, and Karan Singh Tyagi.

Bootwala emphasised that it is not right to use someone else's writing without giving due credit. He even made a joke in the comments, saying that Johar should get in touch with him directly if he ever needs original dialogue for his films.

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Directed by Karan Singh Tyagi and backed by Dharma Productions, the film is a period courtroom drama inspired by the life of C. Sankaran Nair, the lawyer who took on the British Raj following the 1919 Jallianwala Bagh massacre. Akshay Kumar portrays Nair, while R. Madhavan plays British barrister R. Neville McKinley. The film has been met with positive reviews.