Mumbai: The Viral Fever’s Aspirants has been accused of plagiarism. The series has otherwise gained appreciation from both, critics and audience for presenting the life of students who prepare for the Civil Services examination in the best possible way.
Dark Horse writer Nilotpal Mrinal accused the makers of Aspirants of copying from his book. He took social media claiming that the makers of the web series took 30% of his book and made into a series. He also shared a picture of Arunabh Kumar (TVF Founder and creator of Aspirants) and claimed that Arunabh knew about Dark Horse and that he was also aware of Nilotpal’s plan to make a film based on the book. Nilotpal further mentioned that he will file a legal case against the makers of the web series. “I had prepared for UPSC and my book Dark Horse is based on that experience. It is the same book for which I received my first Sahitya Akademi Award. Therefore, the story is extremely close to my heart. For a writer, his creation is like his child. When the creation becomes popular, it gives the writer a source of earning. Stealing the creation from the writer is like stealing a child from his mother,” he wrote.
TVF responded to Nilotpal Mrinal’s allegations and assured that they will cooperate to probe this issue. “TVF is a creator-centric organization that has been nurturing writers since inception and takes their rights very seriously. A social media post has alleged that our show ‘Aspirants’ has been inspired from another literary work. The Company has received a notice in this regard and we will fully cooperate to investigate the matter,” the statement read.
Aspirants stars Naveen Kasturia, Shivankit Singh Parihar, Abhilash Thapliyal, and Namita Dubey among others.