The mutual creative obsession between Lollywood and Bollywood has a long history. The latter being a big, global industry, is well known for unapologetically copying content, and twisting plots with minor differences. Having said that, many times things have been the other way around, with Lollywood blatantly copying Bollywood. Has a case of the same occurred with Lafangey? The film touches base with the genre of horror-comedy that bears striking similarities with the 2017 Indian Telugu film ‘Anando Brahma‘.
A Sneak Peek Into Lafangey
Now, before we further investigate this case of plagiarism, FYI, Lafangey is written and helmed by Abdull Khaaliq Khan. Produced by Tariq Habib Rind, the film features Sami Khan, Mani, Saleem Mairaj, Mubeen Gabol, and Nazish Jahangir. The film is slated to release on Eid-ul-Azha 2022.
Lafangey Vs Anando Brahma
The plot of Lafangey primarily revolves around four men. Due to some personal gains, they enter a haunted house hijacked by ghosts. Right from the word go, the setup, the production design, lifted characters, camera angles, and edit points, every frame is copied from ‘Anando Brahma,’ be it the sequence where Mani plays the flute in front of an empty chair or Nazish Jehangir’s mirror scene to the finale act where Saleem Mairaj is flying on a chair.
Wait…There’s More
For the unversed, Anando Brahma turned out to be quite an inspiration for regional filmmakers in India. The film was adapted as Petromax (Tamil), Bhootchakra Pvt. Ltd (Bengali), Mane Maratakkide & Damayanthi (Kannada) in 2019.
Been There Seen That
How many of you remember the 2017 Chupan Chupai that starred Ahsan Khan and Neelam Muneer? The movie turned out to be a decent hit at the box office but also gave us a shock value of being a total rip-off of the 2013 Tamil movie ‘Soodhu Kavvum‘. Adding more to the horror was the fact that the makers did not mention any credit in the trailer, end credits, or posters.
Does Lollywood Lack Good Content?
The idea of exploring a new genre is fine, but why not create an original rather than a shameless copy? Pakistan has enormous talent, and the talent of our writers should be tested to create good scripts. Going by the present situation of cinema, filmmakers should focus on uplifting their image, and be distinctive to enlighten and entertain the audience.
Lafangey: Final Word
As for Lafangey, the producers so far have maintained silence. The practice of copy-pasting by our filmmakers is unfortunate. Pushing out original content is the need of the hour, to keep local cinema alive.
