TV show 'Mera Naseeb', a copy of novel 'Sister of My Heart'?

Manish Goswami

Television producer Manish Goswami has sent a letter to Zindagi channel alleging that 'Mera Naseeb', a TV show that they have been airing for a while now, is in fact, a copy of 'Sister of My Heart', a novel by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni.

Manish Goswami

Goswami, who has bought the rights to the novel, Sister of My Heart, says, "When I saw the promo of the serial on Zindagi, I sensed that it is the same story, but I waited for a few episodes to be telecast before deciding to take action. By then, I had received a mail from Divakaruni's rights manager, Andrea Cavallaro. She has written in her email, ‘It's quite troublesome to see this show on air. As the current rights holder, would you approach the producer first to tell them to cease and desist? Since we don't have any contact information and hoping you can get it'."

It may be pointed out that Divakaruni has already lashed out against this alleged plagiarism on social media; now Goswami has sent a letter to the channel. He alleges that this is a case of copyright infringement. "I am already in advance talks with a channel with regards to the same subject and this will damage my chances. So I expect Zindagi to take the show off air immediately," he says.

He adds that he has had the rights to the book since 2011, when the show was telecast on Pakistan's Hum TV. "The show's writer, Samira Fazal, apparently lives in the USA and if the original writer, Divakaruni, sues her, it will cause huge damage to her. Even I can take action against her," he says.

The book, Sister of My Heart, tells the story of two Indian girls, Anju and Sudha, and it dwells on family traditions and bonding even as the protagonists move from childhood to adulthood. The book's sequel is called Vine of Desire. Zindagi channel's spokesperson refused to comment on the story.