'Saaho' a copy of French movie? 'Largo Winch' director says 'at least copy it properly'

saaho-teaser

After actor Lisa Ray slammed makers of Saaho for plagiarism, a French director came out against the movie, accusing the makers of the Prabhas-Shraddha Kapoor starrer of copying his movie, Largo Winch.

According to the IMDb, the plot of Largo Winch, directed by Jerome Salle, is, "After a powerful billionaire is murdered, his secret adoptive son must race to prove his legitimacy, find his father's killers and stop them from taking over his financial empire."

The plot of Saaho bears uncanny similarity with the French thriller. The director took notice of the Tollywood movie after a few fans tweete, pointing out to him the similarities between Saaho and Largo Winch.

“I think I have a promising career in India,” Salle tweeted sarcastically after he was told that the Telugu movie may have been more than inspired by his work.

In another tweet, he said, “It seems this second "freemake" of Largo Winch is as bad as the first one. So please Telugu directors, if you steal my work, at least do it properly?

And as my "Indian career" tweet was of course ironic, I'm sorry but I'm not gonna be able to help.”

Last year, after the release of Pawan Kalyan starrer Agnyaathavaasi, the French director had claimed that the film was a copy of Largo Winch.

A few days ago, accusing Saaho makers of plagiarism, Lisa Ray took to Instagram to share two pictures—one of the film's poster, and the original artwork—and tagged the artist Shilo Shiv Suleman, the artist.

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What is creativity? What is art? Where does it come from? We feel what it is not. It’s not derived from your social status. Nor your job title. Nor your appearance. Creativity and its sister Art reach us from the sweet spot of the universe- the soul you might say. But I do know that the creator- artist is the channel for it. Let me tell you how hard it is to birth anything original or authentic. I personally labored for years over my book, quelled the doubts and noise from others and didn’t emerge until I was almost undone. And when I was moving through dark spaces of self-doubt or hitting creative walls I would turn to the work that @shiloshivsuleman puts out into the world and shares on her Instagram handle for inspiration. I can recognize when a creator works honourably and deeply, bleeding, sacrificing, unsleeping, stretching herself in the direction of emotional bravery to produce work that births those feelings we all look for in day to day life. To feel inspired. To feel alive. That’s why when something dishonorable happens, we need to stand up and speak up. To hold up a mirror to these makers to make them understand THIS IS NOT RIGHT. It’s come to light that a big budget film production has ripped off one of Shilo’s original creations. This is NOT inspiration but blatant theft. In no world, is this acceptable. The production did not contact the creator, ask her permission nor offer to collaborate or offer a credit. Nothing. This is not right. I believed the Hindi film industry was evolving necessarily past stealing storylines and rampant plagiarism but the producers of Shahoo have obviously not gotten the memo when it comes to art. Here’s the thing- Creators are worthy of worship. What they produce are more lasting and precious so than all the other ‘things’ we accumulate that can be taken away. Let’s hold these producers accountable for their infuriating, dishonourable action. How would you feel if a thief slid into your home and took away your most prized possessions? Your heart. Your soul. And your livelihood. Image @dietsabya

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There were also allegations that one of the posters of the movie was a copy of the poster of Blade Runner 2049, starring Ryan Gosling.

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