Manoj Bajpayee's take on 'Kriti' plagiarism row

Manoj Bajpayee held a conference today in Mumbai regarding the plagiarism row over Shirish Kunder's recent short film 'Kriti' and stated that none of his films has been copied.

The movie's lead actor clarified that the movie's idea was discussed last year on Eid.

"It was then we decided to do the movie. Back then it wasn't going to be made into a short film. For me, it was hurtful because I saw everything happening in front of me and then someone comes and says 'Aap chor hai'," he said.

"We are being abused on Twitter and Facebook for a short film which is being watched widely. We have invested so much time and worked hard on it. The battle on Twitter is between two countries. I feel bad as he was being victimized by a crook," Bajpayee added.

Further speaking about the loss 'Kriti' suffered, the 'Aligarh' actor said, "We didn't monetize it. There is no subscription fee on Muvizz.com and YouTube. We have suffered losses. We wanted to try something new and when we did, we are being abused for it."

The plagiarism issue led to the removal of the film that also casts Radhika Apte and Neha Sharma from YouTube.

For the uninitiated, 'Kriti,' which has gained huge appreciation, attracted controversy when a filmmaker from Nepal accused Shirish of plagiarism, saying that the idea of 'Kriti' was originally his brainchild and that Shirish had "stolen" his concept.