Web show ‘Aspirants‘ has been an unqualified success for its creators The Viral Fever. The success, however, has been soured somewhat by charges of plagiarism levelled against the show’s creator Arunabh Kumar by acclaimed writer Nilotpal Mrinal. The writer has claimed that almost 30% of Aspirants is a direct copy of his popular novel, ‘Dark Horse’.
Nilotpal Mrinal has also alleged that he had met Arunabh Kumar in the beginning of 2020, and shared with him the idea of converting his Dark Horse into a web series or film. Which is proof of the fact that Arunabh Kumar was aware of his book Dark Horse, as well as that he is the writer of the novel. Nilotpal Mrinal has shared his claims in two Facebook posts that have attracted a lot of attention from social media users.
Conveying disappointment with the deceit of big and influential organisations like The Viral Fever, he has written, “These rich and influential people thought that writers like Nilotpal come and go every day. Recently, even Satya Vyas’s Banaras Talkies was plagiarised….what could anyone do to stop or punish the perpetrators?”
“But”, he says, “That will not be the case with Dark Horse. I will fight for my rights, and if I win or lose, it will be a wake up call and inspiration for all writers whose work is stolen.”
Here are Nilotpal Mrinal’s Facebook posts alleging plagiarism against The Viral Fever and Arunabh Kumar –
The Viral Fever has responded to Nilotpal Mrinal’s plagiarism allegations by releasing a statement saying thus,
“TVF is a creator-centric organization which has been nurturing writers since inception and takes their rights very seriously. A social media post has alleged that our show “Aspirants” has been inspired from another literary work. The Company has recieved a notice in this regard and we will fully cooperate to investigate the matter.”
Aspirants is a TVF show that is streaming on the company’s YouTube channel. It recounts the preparation journey of UPSC aspirants – how they sweat and toil for the coveted UPSC seat, and their hopes and aspirations. It stars Naveen Kasturia, Sunny Hinduja, Shivankit Singh Parihar, Abhilash Thapliyal and Namita Dubey in pivotal roles. It is created by Arunabh Kumar.