Arjun Mathur in a picture of Made in paradise (courtesy YouTube)
New Delhi:
Filmmaker Onir, in a recent tweet, said he was “taken aback” after spotting striking similarities between a scene from the Amazon Prime 2019 wedding series Made in paradise and a particular sequence in his 2010 film I AM. Onir was responding to a tweet from a user, who tagged the filmmaker in a video, which compared the two similar scenes, both featuring actor Arjun Mathur in intimate footage with his respective onscreen partners (Rahul Bose in I AM). Arjun Mathur presents the two I AM and Made in paradise and played homosexual characters in both projects. “I was quite surprised when I saw that so much of this section of I AM was not just there as content but shot in exactly the same way. But recognition has never been the strength of this industry, ”Onir tweeted.
I was quite surprised when I saw that much of this I AM section was not only there as content, but turned out in exactly the same way. But recognition has never been the strength of this industry. https://t.co/ip2rzMQgC8
– Onir (@IamOnir) July 27, 2020
The critically acclaimed Onir film I AM is an anthology of four short films, each dealing with pressing social issues, and explored the theme of homosexuality years before it became a recurring topic in Hindi movies and shows. In 2012, I AM won two national awards – Best Hindi Film and Best Lyrics. Meanwhile, Made in paradise was directed by Zoya Akhtar, Nitya Mehra, Prashant Nair and Alankrita Shrivastava last year and traces the story of two wedding planners, performed by Arjun Mathur and Sobhita Dhulipala.
In more tweets, Onir shared what he was “told”: “Apparently it’s in my imagination that it’s so similar,” one of his tweets said.
I am told that this is just the incident and that many such incidents occur and that there was no real similarity in the way it was executed https://t.co/LbNFI9JQs0
– Onir (@IamOnir) July 28, 2020
Apparently it’s in my imagination that it’s so similar and in the episode it’s just an incident which is the same and bears no resemblance to what it is in I AM !!! https://t.co/iM0Yd85r3I
– Onir (@IamOnir) July 28, 2020
In a separate tweet, Onir added that he had “spoken” about the matter last year but had not made much noise. He said he has decided to speak out again as several celebrities open up about the dark underbelly of the film industry. “Why are A R Rahman and Resul Pookutty doing it now?” Onir asked. A R Rahman and Resul Pookutty are both national award winners like Onir. Mr Rahman recently claimed that he did not have enough work in the Hindi film industry and that a “gang” was spreading “false rumors” about him. Mr. Pookutty, for his part, claimed to have lost his job. Mr. Rahman and Mr. Pookutty both won their Oscars for the film Slumdog Millionaire.
Onir is also best known for making films such as My brother … Nikhil, Bas Ek Pal and Shab.
