Parasite broke a bunch of records as it sweeped up awards left right and centre. The South Korean film won the coveted Palme d’Or at the 2019 Cannes Film Festival, as well as the Best Picture, Best Director, Best Original Screenplay and Best International Feature Film gongs at the 92nd Academy Awards.
The movie has been an absolute revelation with critics and audiences as well. It currently holds an approval rating of 99% on RottenTomatoes and 8.6/10 on IMDb, which is no mean feat. Part of the reason the movie is so great is also because of how original it is. Or so we thought.
It’s hard to find something genuinely great that’s free of controversy these days and Parasite is the latest in a long list of great things to have its name smeared.
It turns out that Parasite may not be so original after all. An Indian filmmaker has recently come out and accused Bong Joon-ho of plagiarism. The producer of a 1999 rom-com called Minsara Kanna, P.L. Thenappan, has claimed that Bong stole the plot of his film for Parasite on different occasions.
“I saw the South Korean film ‘Parasite’ and I feel that they have stolen the film’s crux from ‘Minsara Kanna.’ I’m in talks with international lawyers and contemplating on filing a case against the makers of Parasite soon,” he told India Today. He also spoke to TNM News, saying “They have taken the plot from my film. When they find out that some of our films have been inspired by their films, they file cases. Similarly, it is only fair for us to do the same.”
While the Thenappan may not be too happy about the plot similarities, the director of Minsara Kanna doesn’t really seem to care. K.S. Ravikumar has been quoted saying “I’m happy that the story has received an Oscar, even if it [‘Minsara Kanna’] served as an inspiration. However, filing a case is up to the producer.”
Of course, the production company behind Parasite has responded to the claims, saying “We have no knowledge about plagiarism claims from an Indian film. We have not received any information regarding this issue.” You best bet that this plagiarism saga has only just begun
As someone who is of both Indian and Korean descent, I am very conflicted about all this. While both films have very different vibes, Minsara Kanna’s plot also revolves around an entire family going to a rich family’s house and deceiving them, albeit with rom com undertones. Is that enough to say that Parasite plagiarized its plot? Personally, I don’t think so, but I guess all that matters is what the judge thinks.
