'Gulaab Gang' maker's gang robbery?

Even though his film 'Gulaab Gang' is similar to Nishtha Jain's documentary based on the pink saree gang in Uttar Pradesh, Soumik Sen is in no mood to give credit to Jain

Sohum Shah and Anand Gandhi are backing the release of the documentary Gulabi Gang that will release just before Soumik Sen's film 'Gulaab Gang'.

Directed by Nishtha Jain, the documentary is set to release on February 21 and it is said that Sen's film has drawn inspiration from this documentary.

A source says, `Soumik and his team have referenced this documentary extensively as it was shot two years ago and has already been to many film festivals. But ironically, the documentary was not getting much support here. Moreover, Gulaab Gang's makers have not taken permission to make a film on the life of Sampat Pal, who leads this group of pink sari clad women in real-life.`

Seeing the lack of support for the documentary, Sohum and Anand decided to present the same. `Documentaries often do not get a proper platform. Our own film, 'Ship Of Theseus', saw a theatrical release because of Kiran Rao's support. Now we are taking the opportunity to help Nishtha.

However, I am not sure if Soumik has copied anything from the documentary as I haven't seen his film,` says Sohum, adding that there is no hidden agenda behind releasing the documentary ahead of Sen's film that releases on March 7.

Sen's film stars Madhuri Dixit in the lead role and Juhi Chawla as the antagonist. Upon being contacted, the filmmaker denied drawing inspiration from the documentary. `My film is a work of fiction,` Sen said. However, another source insists, `There are a few incidents in the film which are rooted in reality and are strikingly similar to Sampat's story.`

By arrangement with Mid-Day.com