Renowned director Hansal Mehta has accused Telugu film producer Naga Vamsi of borrowing “liberally” from his critically acclaimed web series Scam 1992: The Harshad Mehta Story for the making of his hit Telugu film Lucky Baskhar. Mehta’s allegations come in the wake of a controversial roundtable interview where Vamsi made remarks about the Hindi film industry, criticizing its focus on making films for posh areas like Bandra and Juhu, and directing his comments at veteran producer Boney Kapoor.

In response to Vamsi’s remarks, Mehta took to his official X (formerly Twitter) account, expressing his frustration with the producer’s “arrogant” attitude. He wrote, “Since this person Mr. Naga Vamsi was being so arrogant, and now that I know who he is: His latest hit as a producer Lucky Baskhar has borrowed liberally from the Scam series.”

The accusation has raised eyebrows in the film industry, especially considering Scam 1992‘s immense success and its meticulous portrayal of the financial scandal. Mehta’s comments have sparked a fresh debate about originality and intellectual property in the film industry, as well as the relationships between filmmakers across different language industries.

Vamsi has yet to publicly respond to the accusations, but this development has certainly added fuel to the ongoing conversation about the boundaries between influence, inspiration, and outright borrowing in cinema.