Being a writer, I can safely proclaim that words are magical! They have the power to destroy something as well as lend it enough strength to sway millions. On one hand, where the advent of technology has enabled these writers to be recognised on a bigger platform, it has also exposed them to plagiarism.
The same happened when The King Of Bollywood Shah Rukh Khan wrote a touching tweet to promote his upcoming film ‘Zero‘. But, the film which earlier became meme fodder on the internet was not part of a funny situation this time.
The lines which SRK wrote for his movie were this,
टिकटें लिए बैठें हैं लोग मेरी ज़िंदगी की, तमाशा भी पूरा होना चाहिए!
As promised, here’s the title of @aanandlrai ‘s film. @AnushkaSharma #KatrinaKaif @RedChilliesEnt @cypplOfficial #2ZERO18 https://t.co/V7xtLY2k5u
— Shah Rukh Khan (@iamsrk) January 1, 2018
Now don’t get me wrong, I absolutely adore SRK, but the lines he used to glorify his film actually belong to a person named Mithelesh Baria, who wrote them way back in 2015. But, Shah Rukh was probably unaware of this and may have found the lines from the internet.
It was not long before people started responding to SRK’s tweet requesting him to give credit to the rightful owner.
1. A humble request.
Dear SRK,
Above lines are so beautiful but it will appear much much beautiful when the actual writer @mithelesh #mbaria will get its due credit.
You being a great actor, art lover, humble n responsible person… We are expecting you to understand this concern.
Thank You!— सिद्धांत | سدھانت (@Siddhant01) January 3, 2018
2. True!
@iamsrk ये वास्तविक तौर @mithelesh द्वारा लिखा गया है, अगर आप उन्हें भी मेंशन करते तो सबको बेहतर लगता https://t.co/phNsKLmddB https://t.co/TQRnVBalv9
— बूँद (@drpandey) January 1, 2018
3. Some were a little more direct.
Hey @iamsrk, say hello to the one who wrote these fabulous lines @mithelesh
— ♉️👠💋 (@Faaltu_Gyaan) January 2, 2018
4. A little harsh.
So @mithelesh's words are @iamsrk's first Hindi words on Twitter? https://t.co/KrwtT22tg7
— Harshit Gupta / हर्षित / ہرشت (@hg6) January 2, 2018
5. Absolutely!
I believe, if you really loved the lines & found them appropriate for your promotion, the original writer @mithelesh deserve a word of love & encouragement from you.. #ZeroTheMovie
cc @aanandlrai— Gopal Das Agrawal (@GDAgrawal) January 3, 2018
6. We are sure he will, too!
BTW this keeps happening with @mithelesh’s work, very often.. like he gets ‘quoted’ and then the lines are attributed to #PiyushMishra ji, and even #Gulzar Sb. at times 🙂
Dear @iamsrk, you will👇, we know 🙂 https://t.co/U3b6zT5RYF
— annand paandey (@anandnama) January 3, 2018
7. We hope so…
I don't think SRK is aware about all this, but yeah writer should have mentioned.
I hope SRK, ALR or @cypplOfficial see this & gave him credit :))— Raanjha💕 (@iRazzakx) January 2, 2018
There has been no response from Shah Rukh yet, but he is a big star after all and must be swamped with work, as new releases do mean a lot of additional work for the cast and crew of the film. We hope that he reads this and gives credit where it’s due.