Kesari 2 plagiarism row 'amicably resolved', shares poet Yahya Bootwala

Business Standard

28-04-2025

Kesari 2, which stars Akshay Kumar, R Madhavan, and Ananya Panday was earlier surrounded by controversy. Yahya Bootwala, a poet and YouTuber, accused the film's makers of stealing lyrics from his original poem on Jallianwala Bagh without his consent.
Yahya posted a video of himself reciting the poetry on social media, alongside with a video clip from the movie in which Ananya Panday uses the same lines in her conversation.
He later issued a statement, though, claiming that the matter between him and the filmmakers had been settled. So, what was the controversy all about? Know what happened and why this issue has recently gained media attention.
'Kesari 2' faces plagiarism allegations
Bootwala previously posted a video on Instagram that contrasted the performance of his poem with a sequence from the movie in which Ananya Panday delivers remarkably similar lines. He also accused Sumit Saxena, who wrote the dialogue for the movie, of copying his work in his post. Yahya wrote on his Instagram, 'Sumit Saxena. I am sure you know this. The worst you can do as a writer is steal some other writer's work without crediting them for it."
In order to demonstrate the remarkable resemblance between his original lines and the dialogue used, he also uploaded the video proof along with the note. In the message, Yahya Bootwala said, 'So @nisoooooooooorg sent me a clip 4 days back from the movie Kesari 2 of dialogues he felt were copied from my poem, titled Jallianwala Bagh, published 5 years ago on @unerasepoetry YouTube channel." ALSO READ |
The poet added, 'Here are the two clips, and honestly, this is a clear copy-paste, and it's not like they've tried to hide it as well; matlab phusphusana jaisa shabd bhi uthaya hai. Yes, logo ke khayal mil sakte hai; people can think in a similar way, but kisi ek topic par bilkul ek jaisi lines likh dena is anything but a coincidence".
Yahya Bootwala further added while slamming Sumit Saxena, 'As writers, the worst thing you can do to a fellow writer is pick their material up, blatantly use it without giving credits, and this is what I feel dialogue writer @sumit.saxena.35912 has done here. If you've ever felt attached to my work, please tag @karanjohar @karanstyagi @dharmamovies @akshaykumar and @ananyapanday so that this reaches them."
'Kesari 2' plagiarism row: Later post
According to the spoken word artist's recent post, the issue has been resolved. Now, the post has been deleted. Using his Instagram account, Yahya wrote, 'So dosto, the producers and I have managed to amicably solve the issue in the best interest of both parties. Thank you guys for your support in these 2 days, you guys have been very kind."
Later, the social media account, Instagram deleted his video post of him reciting the poetry together with a scene from the movie in which Ananya Panday utters the same lyrics as part of her speech.
Produced by Dharma Productions and directed by Karan Singh Tyagi, the historical courtroom drama of 'Kesari 2' tells the tale of C. Sankaran Nair, a lawyer who opposed the British Raj following the 1919 Jallianwala Bagh massacre.
Ananya Panday portrays young lawyer Dilreet Gill, R. Madhavan plays British barrister R. Neville McKinley, and Akshay Kumar plays Nair. The film was released on April 18, 2025.