Netflix is defending its hit Korean series Squid Game against allegations of plagiarism from Bollywood filmmaker Soham Shah. Shah has filed a lawsuit claiming that the popular show, which premiered in 2021, closely resembles his 2009 film Luck. Luck was a survival drama that marked the debut of Shruti Haasan in Hindi cinema and starred Imran Khan.
According to a TMZ report, Shah’s lawsuit accuses Netflix of ripping off his film’s plot. He argues that the plot, characters, themes, mood, setting, and sequence of events in Squid Game bear striking similarities to Luck, which he believes could not be coincidental.
In response, Netflix has firmly denied these claims. The streaming giant issued a statement asserting that Shah’s allegations lack merit. They emphasized that Squid Game was created and written by Hwang Dong Hyuk and pledged to defend the case vigorously.
Soham Shah has maintained his position, insisting that the similarities between the two works are too significant to ignore. His lawsuit seeks to address what he perceives as a blatant copy of his film.
For context, Squid Game features over 400 contestants in dire financial situations who participate in a secretive contest involving Korean children’s games with deadly stakes. Conversely, Luck revolves around contestants participating in a dangerous game of chance to escape their financial woes, where losing equates to death.
While Squid Game gained international fame upon its release on Netflix in 2021, Luck was released in theaters in 2009. The ongoing legal battle will determine whether these similarities constitute copyright infringement.
