A bitter controversy for Neeraj Pandey’s 'Laddoo'?Feb 2 (AZINS) The short film titled Laddoo, starring Kumud Mishra, got several industry folk talking about it after its release two days ago. Presented by Neeraj Pandey, the Sameer and Kishor Sadwani directorial revolves around an inquisitive boy who’s sent by his mother to give food and dakshina to the pandit in a nearby temple on the occasion of his grand-father’s death anniversary. Seeing it closed, he ends up going to a mosque, where his innocent and honest questions impress the maulvi who agrees to partake the food. 

Interestingly, a couple of years ago, Ajay Dhama had made a short, titled In The Name Of God on a similar subject. The filmmaker had shared clips of the movie on social media. While certain portions seem different, it looks like at its core, the storylines of both the shorts are alike. To add to the coincidence, the child protagonists in both are named Rahul. We hear Ajay was sending a legal notice to Pandey and his associates for copyright infringement.

In The Name Of GodA still from In The Name Of God; (inset) Ajay Dhama

We contacted Neeraj Pandey for his side of the story. His partner, producer Shital Bhatia reverted saying, “We have reached out to Ajay Dhama and asked him to show his film and script. Obviously, we had absolutely no clue about this film. Laddoo, which is written and helmed by Sameer and Kishore Sadhwani, is presented by us to encourage and promote first-time filmmakers. They came to us with this concept and story, which was supported by us. As responsible story-tellers, we take such claims very seriously and appreciate people to not jump to conclusions.”