Telugu journalist Satish Gaddam alleges Balagam makers plagiarised his short story, threatens to take the legal route

The funeral drama Balagam, directed by popular comedian Venu Yeldandi (Tillu), starring Priyadarshi, Kavya Kalyanram is off to a good start at the ticket window while also drawing praise from critics and theatre-going audiences alike. However, a Telugu journalist Satish Gaddam, has now claimed that the makers of Balagam have plagiarised his story from a vernacular publication.

A press meet was held in Hyderabad where the journalist shared his side of the story in the controversy. “I work in a daily Namaste Telangana and I had published this story named Pacchiki in December 2014 for this publication as part of the Sunday magazine. They’ve made minor changes to my story and Dil Raju is now making money out of it and is threatening me for the same,” Satish said.

“Pacchiki refers to a bird that humans feed after the death of a family member as part of a tradition. They feed the bird on the third, fifth and the seventh days after the death and I wrote a story surrounding it. The title Balagam too isn’t right - we refer to it as Balgam. The story is mine and the published article is proof of it. I need to be credited for this,” he added.

“People make a controversy these days even for using a few words in songs but they’ve copied 90% of my story and made it into a film. I deserve the credit for Balagam’s story and I hope the makers announce it themselves. I don’t mind taking the legal route in this issue and I’m already in talks with a few lawyers. If this is the plight of a journalist, imagine the plight of a common man?,” Satish asked.

Balagam, produced by Harshith and Hanshitha Reddy under Dil Raju Productions, released in theatres on March 3. The film also starred Sudhakar Reddy, Rohini, Roopa, Vijayalakshmi, Muralidhar Goud and Racha Ravi, to name a few.