Team Nagarkirtan up on the unsavoury controversy

I am the common source for both Holde Golap and Nagarkirtan. When Holde Golap was coming out in a mag, I had raised issues about the portrayal of my character. Later, it was changed. When the author was awarded for the novel, I was not even told about it. And he did nothing for the transgender community. When he was enjoying the limelight, eunuchs were begging at street crossings. About Nagarkirtan, Kaushik Ganguly and I have been in talks for the past 20 years. I used to live in Jhargram in the mid-’90s when he got in touch with me and when he finally told me about the film, I was going to be the first transgender principal in the country. He did not know about it. Later, his team came to my college for a recce in 2017 and the shoot finally began. Fact is, Kaushik is a godsend to those like us. He has not only told our story, but has given us a lot of respect. Those who watched the film from my community were in tears. There’s no similarity of Nagarkirtan with Holde Golap whatsoever and the allegations of plagiarism are just baseless.
— Manabi Bandopadhyay, actor

I haven’t read Holde Golap by Swapnamoy Chakraborty, so I prefer not to comment on the story. But on the other hand, Nagarkirtan has been talked about since it bagged four National Awards. I guess even people who hadn’t watched the film had a fair idea about its story. So, why is this allegation being made now, when it’s running successfully in theatres? What’s more, Nagarkirtan is perhaps Kaushikda’s 22nd or 23rd film and he is known for penning original scripts, so this allegation seems baseless. Moreover, Anindya Chattopadhyay is the editor of the paper that featured the Holde Golap series. He also reviewed the film. Surely, he would have written about it if he had noticed even the slightest similarity. So, I would
request Swapnamoy babu not to get instigated by anyone. Rather, if he has any issue, he should talk it out with Kaushikda.
— Sani Ghose Ray, producer

The Nagarkirtan trailer was released long back, the film hit theatres last Friday, all reviews are out and now, when the film is running housefull at theatres, we hear that the story has similarities with Holde Golap by Swapnamoy Chakraborty. I haven’t read the series, so I won’t comment on it. But after so many people watched and loved the film, so many critics reviewed it, wasn’t there anyone who had read the series and found it similar to the film? This allegation is just hilarious! In fact, I asked one of my mother’s friends, who had read the series and watched the film, whether there’s any similarity. She said both are poles apart! Some people just have a tendency to pull down anyone who’s doing well. On social media, a person wrote to me that my character Parimal reminded him of Parimal in Holde Golap, but both are actually different. Some people had even questioned how I had bagged the National Award. So, I just laugh at all this. What’s more, Kaushik Ganguly is known for his original stories and such allegations against him only show how we can’t digest others’ success! Let the audience say if they find any similarity between the book and the film.
— Riddhi Sen, actor

I haven’t read Holde Golap, but I was with Kaushikda from the inception of Nagarkirtan’s story. So, I have seen the film’s journey. There’s not even a remote chance that Kaushikda will get inspired from anyone or any book, as I’ve seen how he used to change the characters midway and add to the script or at times, change the entire narrative to give it a new dimension. I have seen how he used to interact with the transgenders and see their videos while penning the script so that it reads authentic. The film faced legal battles before its release and now, when it’s running to packed houses, there will be people who won’t be able to tolerate its success and will try to level all kinds of baseless allegations against it. This is human psychology. It’s strange that only a few found similarities between the film and Swapnamoy Chakraborty’s Holde Golap, while the audience is all praise for the film.
— Subhajit Singha, editor

Kaushik Ganguly’s Shunyo E Buke was very similar to my novel, Naram Hridoyer Chinho. It had two stories running parallel. While one was about a transgender, the other was about a flat-chested woman. Back then, no one had written about a flat-chested woman. This time around, allegations have again been levelled against the same filmmaker. Swapnamoy, who is a friend, said the film is a lift from his novel. Problem is, I did not take a legal step and to such allegations, there are always counter allegations and denial. I am very tired of this vicious cycle.
— Abul Bashar

Why should an author keep mum when he knows that the concept of his novel has been stolen? If it’s a question of ethics, then I’d say it’s ethical for authors to find out the truth regardless of how the film is faring at the box office. I did not know about Swapnamoy Chakraborty’s allegations but there’s no question of sitting quiet when he’s sure of what has happened.
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Shirshendu Mukhopadhyay