If you fell in love with Varun Dhawan’s October then hold onto your gratitude as the film is allegedly a copied version of a Marathi film.

October, which has been praised for its storyline and performances, is actually a remake of an acclaimed Marathi film titled Aarti The Unknown Love Story, which was directed by Sarika Mahesh Mene.

The film was released in 2017 and was widely appreciated by critics. Sarika directed the film in collaboration with her friend Hemal Trivedi, who made the incident public by posting about October‘s copied nature on her social media handles, and approached the IMPAA and SWA against the Hindi remake of the film.

However, it was too late for the duo as Shoojit Sircar was already onboard October.

Hemal posted a long message on his Facebook account, where she accused Sircar of stealing the Marathi film and making it his own creation in Hindi.

According to a report in HT, Sarika believes that besides some cosmetic changes, the film is very similar to her film Aarti.

“‘Aarti…’ is based on a real incident that happened with my brother, Sunny Pawar, and [his late girlfriend] Aarti Makwana. October is way too similar to their story and my film. I’m not saying all this without watching ‘October’. Obviously, they’ve added a few cosmetic changes, but how are the events, approach etc so similar? They start off showing a hotel where the characters are interns; my film starts with a newspaper office where Sunny and Aarti are interns. Then Shiuli falls from a terrace asking about Dan; in my film, Aarti, while on a trip with friends, is shown lost in thoughts and her friends point out that she was thinking about Sunny when the accident happened. Much like Shiuli’s mother asks Dan to concentrate on his work, Aarti’s mother says the same to Sunny — here, even the dialogues are similar,” says Sarika, pointing out the similarities,” Sarika said.

The makers of the film have urged the audience to watch both the films and then make a judgement on her claims.

Speaking about the same, the makers of October, Rising Sun Films, have received a notice from Sarika and her team but decided not to comment as of now.

“We have received a letter and are in the process of responding to it. For now, we would not like to make any further comment.” There was no response to our calls and messages to Juhi Chaturvedi, the writer of ‘October’,” a spokesperson said.

October starring Varun Dhawan and Banita Sandhu in the lead roles was released worldwide on April 13.