Anurag Basu's latest romantic comedy film "Barfi" is continuing to draw more audiences at the box office, but the movie is accused of taking scenes from other Hollywood and Bollywood films.
The movie, starring Ranbir Kapoor as a dumb and deaf boy, Priyanka Chopra as an autistic girl and Ileana D'Cruz as a Bengali girl, has garnered positive reviews for the actor's heart-warming performances. But film critics attacked Basu saying that several scenes from were "lifted" from classic movies of Hollywood and Bollywood.
Several key moments of the movie have been reportedly copied from various Charlie Chaplin's movie like "The Notebook" and "Singin' in the Rain" among others.
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Director Basu has finally spoken out about the charges that were levelled against him.
During an interview with CNN-IBN, Basu said that "Barfi" was a homage paid to cinema's greats from the silent era - Charles 'Charlie' Chaplin and Buster Keaton, according to IBN Live.
"How many people knew Buster Keaton in India? We said in the interviews (prior to the release of the film) that there are scenes inspired by Buster Keaton and Charlie Chaplin. Even before the release of the film I said it on record," Basu said.
"And yeah, it was my shortcoming because there was a lot of physical comedy in the film. I couldn't think original out of it...I had to see silent era films to understand that. You will see there's a scene where the camera pans and stays on a Charlie Chaplin poster. I wanted to give homage to him," Basu said.
Ever since Film Federation of India selected "Barfi" as India's official entry to the Oscars 2013 in the foreign film category, the movie is facing controversies.
Some think that various scenes from "Barfi" are just "lifted" from other films, making it ineligible for the awards. Many also feel that there are better Indian movies than "Barfi".
