Kalank – What the Body Remembers controversy: This is what Varun Dhawan has to say

Karan Johar’s multi-starrer Kalank has been grabbing headlines ever since the movie was first announced. The makers too have been keeping up the excitement levels by sharing teasers and the songs. And all of them have been hitting bullseye with the industry and the public, who are now highly-intrigued to watch this magnum opus when it releases on April 17. Starring Alia Bhatt, Varun Dhawan, Sanjay Dutt, Madhuri Dixit Nene, Aditya Roy Kapoor, and Sonakshi Sinha, Kalank is undoubtedly one of the most highly-anticipated movies to come out this year. Now, whether the film will live up to its hype or not, we will have to wait and watch. However, meanwhile, there has been a brewing topic of conversation with the netizens on the originality of the project.

Just as the Kalank trailer was dropped, reports started surfacing about the uncanny similarity between the movie and the novel, What the Body Remembers by author Shauna Singh Baldwin. In fact, the Internet was abuzz with netizens talking about it. Both Kalank and Shauna’s book share a similar storyline about two women getting married to the same man, as the first wife cannot conceive a child, hence the man remarries. In Kalank’s case, the trailers have suggested how Aditya Roy Kapur’s character is married to Alia Bhatt, while he obviously shares a romantic connection with Sonakshi Sinha. When Varun Dhawan was asked about this uncanny resemblance, he was quick to squash these reports and said he hasn’t read the book in question and doesn’t know much on that. He further explained it saying that Kalank is a love story and that there are multiple layers to their storyline, most of which is not in the trailer. Varun called the character names being similar just a coincidence and counter-questioned the claim by saying if it was copied then they would have at least tried to conceal it by changing the names.

Thanks for bringing this to my attention, savvy readers. I haven’t seen the movie, so I can’t judge. I did read a leaked plot summary that didn’t seem to be the tale of two women in a polygamous marriage in colonial India.

— Shauna Singh Baldwin (@SSinghBaldwin) April 2, 2019

No one has purchased film rights to What the Body Remembers. @TransLitAgency

— Shauna Singh Baldwin (@SSinghBaldwin) April 2, 2019

Have you seen the movie? Have you read What the Body Remembers? This is a pretty serious charge. Please be very sure.

— Shauna Singh Baldwin (@SSinghBaldwin) April 2, 2019

Karan Johar has earlier stated that the film was initially conceptualized by his father late producer Yash Johar almost 15 years ago and it was the last film he worked on before passing away. The movie hits theaters April 17. We will have to wait and watch to see how similar it may or may not be to the book. Meanwhile, stay tuned to CineBlitz for all the latest in news and gossip.