'Blatant Theft, Not Inspiration': Lisa Ray Calls Out Prabhas' Saaho Makers For Plagiarism

Hours after Saaho arrived in theatres on Friday, actress Lisa Ray accused the makers of Saaho of plagiarising contemporary artist Shilo Shiv Suleman's work for a poster of the song Baby Won't You Tell Me, featuring lead stars Prabhas and Shraddha Kapoor. "What is creativity? What is art? Where does it come from? We know what it is not. It's not your social status. It's not your job title. It's not your appearance," Lisa Ray began her post by writing this. Highlighting what went into creating Shilo Shiv Suleman's original artwork, Lisa Ray added: "That's why when something dishonourable happens, we need to stand up and speak up. To hold up a mirror to these makers to make them understand this is not right. It's come to light that a big budget film production has ripped off one of Shilo's original creations. This is not inspiration but blatant theft. In no world, is this acceptable."

The 47-year-old actress alleged that "The production did not contact the creator, ask her permission nor offer to collaborate or offer a credit. Nothing. This is not right."

"I believed the Hindi film industry was evolving necessarily past stealing storylines and rampant plagiarism but the producers of Saaho have obviously not gotten the memo when it comes to art," Lisa Ray added. Prabhas and Shraddha's Saaho also released in Hindi apart from Telugu, Tamil and Malayalam.

Read Lisa Ray's entire post here:

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What is creativity? What is art? Where does it come from? We know what it is not. It's not your social status. It's not your job title. It's not your appearance. It's not even the image you see in the mirror. Creativity and its sister Art reach us from the sweet spot of the universe- the soul you might say- through mystery. But I do know that the creator- artist is the channel for it. Let me tell you how hard it is to create- anything- original or authentic. I personally labored for years over my book, quelled the doubts and noise from others and didn't emerge until I had almost undone myself. Because it's a calling. And when I was moving through dark moment of self-doubt or creative blocks, I would turn to the work that @shiloshivsuleman puts out into the world and shares on her Instagram handle. She may not even know this, but I can recognize when a creator works honourably and deeply, bleeding, sacrificing, unsleeping, stretching herself in the direction of emotional bravery to produce work that births those feelings we all look for in day to day life. To feel inspired. To feel alive. That's why when something dishonorable happens, we need to stand up and speak up. To hold up a mirror to these makers to make them understand THIS IS NOT RIGHT. It's come to light that a big budget film production has ripped off one of Shilo's original creations. This is NOT inspiration but blatant theft. In no world, is this acceptable. The production did not contact the creator, ask her permission nor offer to collaborate or offer a credit. Nothing. This is not right. I believed the Hindi film industry was evolving necessarily past stealing storylines and rampant plagiarism but the producers of Shahoo have obviously not gotten the memo when it comes to art. Here's the thing- Creators are worthy of worship. What they produce are more lasting and precious so than all the other 'things' we accumulate that can be taken away. Let's hold these producers accountable for their infuriating, dishonourable action. How would you feel if a thief slid into your home and took away your most prized possessions? Your heart. Your soul. And your livelihood. Image @dietsabya

A post shared by lisaraniray (@lisaraniray) on Aug 30, 2019 at 5:05am PDT

Meanwhile, the artist Shilo Shiv Suleman shared details of her "Pulse and bloom" installation that was created at desert festival Burning Man in 2014 and wrote: "What happens when that story gets taken without your permission? I am known by my creation."

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Where does inspiration come from? What (sacred) wells do we drink from when we create from an original and authentic space? This week people from across the world gather back together in that dust @burningman and I am reminded of how much of my creation comes from my (beating) heart. Pulse and bloom is a biofeedback installation that reacts to people's heartbeats, and it came to exist because of a series of personal relationships. It was born from love (like me). We had support from @burningman but we also pulled out of our own pockets to make it manifest. I left my home for the first time, moved to another country, went out into that desert. It cost me a heart. It was a gift, and a sacrifice for all of us involved, and changed the paths of all our lifelines. I'm quite certain it was intended for me to create this installation. I'm certain that the sand storms, the dust, the rose-pink clouds, the thunderstorms gathered around it intentionally, for me. What happens when that story gets taken without your permission? I am known by my creation. #pulseandbloom @rd108 @sabarani @lukeiseman @heatheraminastewart @samuelclay with a team of hearts @_gracenotes @jugularbean @vivek_chockalingam @brittanyjanis @_zenrabbit @mattmedved and more. Burningman 2014

A post shared by Shilo Shiv Suleman (@shiloshivsuleman) on Aug 29, 2019 at 7:47am PDT

Written and directed by Sujeeth, Saaho has been co-produced by UV Creations and Bhushan Kumar's T-Series. Saaho, which marks Prabhas' first Hindi film, opened to middling reviews on Friday.