Just a few days ago, Emraan Hashmi got together with producers Bhushan Kumar of T-Series, and Tanuj Garg of Ellipsis Entertainment to announce the film Cheat India, based on examination-paper scams in colleges. Now, hours later, a Delhi-based theatre and film actor alleges that the idea has been copied.
Imran Zahid alleges that the concept and the story idea for Cheat India is borrowed from his film.
He says, “Is Emraan’s film inspired by education scams, or is the concept copied from our film Marksheet? The film is slotted to release in November. A film on cheating mustn’t be copied from elsewhere. Marksheet is a product of a lot of creative people trying to create a niche for themselves in Bollywood.”
Vinay Bhardwaj, the producer of Marksheet, says “We have been working on this concept and project for the last two years to ensure we bring out the best possible film on examination frauds. If Cheat India is inspired by our idea, then it’s the biggest cheating for us newcomers.”
Imran hopes that his film sees the light of the day, and says, “Marksheet will not just be an issue-based film but would also be a love story. The film will mostly be shot around Delhi and Uttar Pradesh. We are working really hard on it it, don’t want a powerful team to come and steal our thunder.”
The producers of Cheat India remained unavailable for comment.
