Source : INDIA TODAY NEWS
Actor Taapsee Pannu’s upcoming Netflix film Gandhari has found itself at the centre of a copyright controversy, with writer Kalyan Bandi alleging that the film’s story bears similarities to a concept he had written years ago. Written and produced by Kanika Dhillon, the film stars Pannu as a mother who sets out to rescue her kidnapped daughter. In a statement, Dhillon’s production house has now denied all allegations, stating that the film is an original piece of work.
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Kalyan Bandi, an IIT Madras alumnus who works as an Inspector with Central GST and Customs, claims he had written and registered a story titled Gandhari in 2019, built around a similar core of a mother who takes on the avatar of a fierce goddess as she finds herself caught up in a child-trafficking racket.
Speaking exclusively to India Today, he said he had pitched the story to Monika Shergill in 2019, who was then with Voot and is now a Vice President at Netflix. He has since raised questions over the film’s origins and claims that he even sent a legal notice (a copy of which is in India Today’s possession) in September 2025, seeking financial compensation and credit.
Bandi claims he first approached Shergill on LinkedIn in 2019, and shared his eight-page story and two-page Gandhari synopsis with her the following month. While the material was acknowledged, in a few weeks’ time, he was informed that the story did not fit the company’s commissioning slate.
He adds that he had registered the story and synopsis with the Screenwriters Association around the same time, and continued working on the idea over the years. In 2023, he approached Baweja Studios, where he claims discussions around the story and screenplay continued for five to six months, while he also submitted his pitch to JioHotstar.
Then came the announcement of Gandhari on Netflix in 2025, which left him surprised. According to Bandi, the title immediately caught his attention, but he did not want to jump to conclusions. He said he subsequently began comparing the project with the story he had developed and felt there were enough similarities for him to raise the issue. For Bandi, the title itself is an important part of the allegation.
He argues that the choice of Gandhari was specific to the concept he had created and that the connection between the title and his story was something he did not expect to see elsewhere. “Only I can connect the title to the concept because it was my creativity. How can it be credited to Kanika Dhillon?” he stated, adding that production houses with whom he was in discussions backed away after the announcement, resulting in financial and professional losses for him.
Bandi says that despite sending the legal notice in September 2025, the matter remained unanswered and never reached court. He told India Today that after receiving no response, his lawyer advised him to pursue the matter legally. However, as a government employee, he said he could not afford the expense of a prolonged legal battle and eventually decided not to take the case forward.
And while the legal notice sought around Rs 40 lakh as compensation for the alleged unauthorised use of his work, loss of reputation and mental agony, and towards legal expenses in total, Bandi insists that money is not what he is seeking. For him, the issue is acknowledgement and credit. “I don’t even want money. Just say thank you and acknowledge that it was my idea,” he said, adding, “I’ll be very happy if they can prove to me that this is not my story.”
Kathha Pictures denies allegations
Kanika Dhillon’s production house Kathha Pictures has strongly rejected Kalyan Bandi’s allegations. In a statement, the production house maintained that Gandhari is “an original work” and all “allegations are false.”
The complete statement read: “Our attention has been drawn to allegations circulating on social media and in certain publications to the effect that our forthcoming film Gandhari copies another person’s concept and uses that person’s title. These allegations are false, and we deny them unequivocally. Gandhari is an original work, written and produced by Ms. Kanika Dhillon and developed by Kathha Pictures. Its story and screenplay are Ms. Dhillon’s own work. We request the media, digital platforms and members of the public to treat these allegations as what they are, namely unverified and false, and to refrain from publishing, circulating or repeating them as established fact.”
India Today reached out to Netflix and Monika Shergill for a response to Bandi’s allegations but did not receive a response till the time of filing this story.
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SOURCE :- TIMES OF INDIA
