Viral clip: Is Malayalam hit Jaya Jaya Jaya Jaya Hey a copy of this French film? Director Vipin Das denies

Malayalam hit Jaya Jaya Jaya Jaya Hey was not just a critical hit. Made on a budget of less than Rs 5 crore, the movie went on to earn Rs 50 crore at the box office. It was one of the biggest hits of Malayalam cinema last year. And many even celebrated it as the wild version of critical darling The Grean Indian Kitchen. However, the film's integrity has now come under the scanner. 

Filmmaker Vipin Das, who wrote and helmed Jaya Jaya Jaya Jaya Hey, has been accused of copying from the French comedy movie Kung Fu Zohra (2001). A viral video showing a scene-by-scene comparison between the two movies has shocked the fans of the Malayalam hit. The less than 40 seconds video places similar scenes from both movies together. In both movies, the leading ladies could be seen subjected to domestic violence. Their husbands slap them without remorse. First, the women feel the shock and soon they realise what's happening to them. The women use mobile phones to Google self-defence moves and master them by watching videos on YouTube. The montage shots in the Malayalam movie showing Darshana's Jaya becoming combat-ready to pay her husband back in the same coin has an eerie similarity with the training scenes of Sabrina Ouazani's Zohra Hamidi in Kung Fu Zohra. Especially, the fight sequence when the women first hit their husbands seems almost the same. 

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Filmmaker Vipin Das, however, has rubbished the allegations of plagiarism. A few days ago, he issued a lengthy explanation on his Facebook page, showing that he didn't know the existence of Kung Fu Zohra till it was brought to his attention by the viral video. He called it "propaganda against the movie" and said that it has "pained" everyone who made that film. 

Vipin also shared the details of the emails that were exchanged while he was looking for the producers to make Jaya Jaya Jaya Jaya Hey. He, however, acknowledged the similarities between Kung Fu Zohra and Jaya Jaya Jaya Jaya Hey. He explained, "In my conclusion, the similarity in the fight scenes may be because both directors followed the style of old Jackie Chan and Jet Li movies." He said that both movies have been shot and edited like Chinese action movies.