Director Bong Joon-ho's 'Parasite' Faces Unusual Plagiarism Controversy... Similarities to 20-Year-Old Indian Film?

Director Bong Joon-ho (front) and writer Han Jin-won (back) holding the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay trophy [Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Han Seung-gon, Intern Reporter Kim Sung-yeol] Director Bong Joon-ho's film Parasite has been accused of plagiarizing the Indian film Minsara Kanna. A representative of the Indian film stated that they may file a lawsuit against Director Bong.

The Indian English-language newspaper The Times of India (Times) reported on the 16th (local time) that the producer of the Tamil-language Indian film Minsara Kanna plans to sue Director Bong.

According to the Times, the producer of Minsara Kanna, Thenappan, said, "After hearing the news of the Academy Award win, I watched Parasite," and claimed, "That film was made based on the basic content of our film."

He added, "The differences between the two films will be determined in court," and said, "There have been cases where Korean film production companies have often filed lawsuits against films made in Tamil, but everything will be revealed in court."

Thenappan is currently discussing the lawsuit against Director Bong with local lawyers and plans to hire an international lawyer soon.

On the other hand, Director Ravikumar, who wrote the film's scenario, did not respond strongly to Thenappan's claims.

He said, "I have not yet seen Parasite," and added, "From what I have heard from people, I am glad that it inspired the Oscar-winning story and that we chose a story 20 years ago that the Oscars would find valuable."

He continued, "I want to congratulate Parasite on winning a major award at the Oscars," avoiding any mention of the plagiarism controversy.

Minsara Kanna is a film about a young man who falls in love with the younger sister of a millionaire and returns to India together, planning to enter the woman's house. In the film, the man becomes a bodyguard at the woman's sister's house, and later, the man's younger brother and sister are hired as a butler and chef, respectively, and live there.

Thenappan claims plagiarism, stating that Parasite and Minsara Kanna share the theme of a family invading a wealthy household.