Recently, Bollywood faced an ugly showdown when writer Jyoti Kapoor accused filmmaker Kunal Kohli of plagiarism for lifting her story and turning it into Phir Se. A similar situation seemed to be arising for the Sonam Kapoor starrer Dolly Ki Doli as well. Writer Ved Prakash, who has written Punjabi flick R.S.V.P. [Ronde Sare Vyah Picho], was led to believe by some that the Abhishek Dogra directed Dolly Ki Doli was inspired by his film. Ever since the promo of this Arbaaz Khan production went on air, the insinuations started building up.
This is when those around Ved advised him that he should reach out to the Film Writers’ Association and log a formal note to have this case discussed. However, the writer decided to go against this recommendation. Here’s what he says:
Why would I do that? So many crores are invested in a film and such kind of activities unnecessarily hassle a producer. Arbaaz bhai is a nice gentleman; his personal assurance is more than enough for me. He thoroughly explained to me how Dolly Ki Doli is different from R.S.V.P. His script too was registered before the release of my film. He has offered for me to watch the film when it is ready. I am so much looking forward to it.
In R.S.V.P., Neeru Bajwa does dupe her groom (Harish Verma) but has a gradual change of heart when latter hunts for her and brings her back into the family. On the other hand, in Dolly Ki Doli, Sonam Kapoor is shown as a serial con girl who takes Rajkummar Rao, Varun Sharma and Pulkit Samrat for a royal ride.
So what if Ved actually ends up finding any similarity then?
He says after a pause, “See, the genre could be similar or one of two moments may be inspired; that’s okay, utna chalta hai. Par haan, agar zyaada similarities hui tab baat alag hogi. Let’s see; my gut instinct says that I won’t have any reasons to complain.”
When contacted, Arbaaz said, “Well, good he has clarified the stance himself. That’s nice on his part. Beyond that main kya bolon. Thankfully, Dolly Ki Doli resumes on a clean slate now.”
We agree!