Kalyan Bandi claims the upcoming Netflix film Gandhari plagiarises a child-trafficking story he registered in 2019.
The writer sent a legal notice in September 2025 demanding writing credit and compensation but halted legal action due to high litigation costs.
Kathha Pictures, owned by writer-producer Kanika Dhillon, completely rejected the plagiarism allegations, calling them false and baseless.
Taapsee Pannu's Gandhari is set to premiere on Netflix on September 3. Ahead of its release, the film has hit a copyright dispute days as writer Kalyan Bandi claims the movie copies a concept he registered in 2019. The producers rejected the allegation, stating that Kanika Dhillon wrote the original story.
What is the Gandhari copyright controversy?
Bandi, who graduated from IIT Madras, now works as an Inspector in the Central GST and Customs department. He claims his 2019 draft follows a mother rescuing her child from child traffickers. During her struggle, she turns into a fierce, divine protector, India Today reported.
Bandi said he first shared his idea in 2019. He reached out to Monika Shergill, then at Voot and now a Vice President at Netflix, via LinkedIn with an eight-page draft and a two-page synopsis. Shergill confirmed receipt of the files but declined the pitch, explaining the concept did not fit their production plans at the time.
Following the rejection, Bandi registered his story with the Screenwriters Association. He continued developing the script and pitched it to Baweja Studios in 2023, where discussions lasted for several months. He also submitted the concept to JioHotstar.
Demands and Legal Hurdles
The conflict erupted in 2025 when Netflix announced the movie, prompting Bandi to compare the project with his older script. He noticed striking similarities, especially the title. Bandi said the announcement disrupted his ongoing negotiations with other studios, causing him career and financial losses.
"Only I can connect the title to the concept because it was my creativity. How can it be credited to Kanika Dhillon?" Bandi said.
Bandi sent a legal notice in September 2025. He demanded ₹40 lakh in financial compensation and official writing credit for his work.
"I don't even want money. Just say thank you and acknowledge that it was my idea. I'll be very happy if they can prove to me that this is not my story," Bandi said.
The producers ignored his legal notice. Bandi abandoned the case before it reached court. He could not afford a protracted legal fight against major entertainment firms on a civil servant's salary, he added.
Production House Rejects Claims
Kathha Pictures, the production house owned by Dhillon, dismissed Bandi's allegations entirely. The company called the claims baseless.
"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 (sic)," Kathha Pictures stated.
The makers urged the media and the public to avoid presenting these unverified allegations as facts.
Gandhari, written and produced by Kanika Dhillon and directed by Devashish Makhija, also stars Ishwak Singh, Chhaya Kadam, Swastika Mukherjee, Mita Vashisht and Jatin Sarna.
