February 24, 2018, is marked as the most grievous day of the year because of the sudden and unfortunate demise of Bollywood’s Chandni, Sridevi Kapoor. It was always a bliss to watch the ‘first female superstar of Indian cinema’ on-screen and her 50 years in the industry will always be honoured. (Also Read: Boney Kapoor Received Late Wife Sridevi's Award At IIFA 2018, Broke Down On The Stage (See Pics))
Everyone was touched and overwhelmed with the tribute video on the honour of late Sridevi at the 19th International Indian Film Academy (IIFA) Awards 2018, which aired on television on July 31, 2018. But for one fan it came as a shock! Do you want to know why? Well, Saba Arif, an ardent Sridevi fan was taken aback when she realised that the tribute video was the one she had put together in March, days after Sridevi’s demise. Check out IIFA’s video:
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Taking this to her social media handle, Saba accused IIFA organisers of plagiarism, taking off her credit and calling it their own. She wrote on her Facebook account, “It's so heartbreaking when something you've worked on gets ripped off and passed off as someone else's work. I just happened to turn on the TV to watch the IIFA awards last night and I got the rude shock of having MY video played on the show without my permission!”
The post could be further read as, “To see the entire film fraternity tearing up after having watched the video that I made might have been the biggest privilege of my career, if it hadn't been for the fact that they didn't acknowledge me at all for having made it. Way to go IIFA Awards COLORS TV Wizcraft International Entertainment Pvt. Ltd. Thanks so much for stealing my #Sridevi tribute video at the #IIFA2018 awards. Your laziness, lack of scruples, and incompetence shines through. Just goes to show how sincere your tribute was, after all. #ShameOnIIFA #IIFA2018 #SrideviDeservedBetter” (Also Read: Boney Kapoor Is Proud Of Sridevi Kapoor Getting The Best Actress National Award For 'Mom')
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She also shared the link of her ‘original video’, and tweeted on her account, “Thanks for ripping my work off @IIFA @ColorsTV! That was my #Sridevi tribute that you stole without giving ANY credit! Talk about lazy and unprofessional! It's such a joke that you call yourselves the Indian Oscars. #ShameonIIFA.” Read her Facebook post here:
Speaking to Hindustan Times, Saba shared, “I am a huge fan of Sridevi and her demise came as a shock to me. I love Sridevi, and thus decided to make this video in March. Something I felt that other fans would love to watch. Watching it being used with just a few alterations during the IIFA Awards show was shocking, to say the least. Nobody from the company had contacted me, and nobody even bothered to acknowledge that the video was, indeed, a creation of mine.”
Sridevi’s husband, Boney Kapoor came out in open and responded to the whole situation. Denying the plagiarism accusation, Boney stated, “Almost all of the clips in the video are owned by me or Yash Raj Films, thus, giving us the right to use them as we like. The video was approved by me for IIFA, after a discussion with YRF, and I’d like to know what gives her (Saba Arif) the right to claim it as her own. If she has a problem with the video, she should reach out to me rather than just make such accusations.” (Also Read: These Pics Of Sridevi With Boney, Janhvi And Khushi Prove That She Was The Backbone Of The Family)
After learning about Boney’s statement, Saba was quoted as saying, “Sure, the clips are his to own. But I put my heart and soul into this video — it took me three days to make it. They didn’t change the sequences of the clips or the song(s), and the fact that I had put all that together makes the concept my intellectual property. This was never about the same clips being used, but about my hard work being taken for such a show without any acknowledgement. It is still my video, and I’d like to be acknowledged for the same. I’m just surprised by this reaction to my post.”
What do you feel about this whole controversy? Do let us know in the comments section below!
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