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Oscar-Shortlisted ‘Homebound’ sued for plagiarism
Puja Changoiwala alleges that the drama has unlawfully plagiarised her 2021 namesake novel.
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Rwittika Chakraborty
- Wed, 24, Dec 2025
- 01:50 EST
- 19
Homebound (2025) poster / Instagram/dharmamovies
Homebound, directed by Neeraj Ghaywan and shortlisted for the Oscars 2026, is facing legal trouble after journalist and author Puja Changoiwala took legal action against Dharma Productions and Netflix.
Changoiwala alleges that the drama has unlawfully plagiarised her 2021 namesake novel.
ALSO READ: SRK calls Homebound "gentle, honest & soulful" film
She wrote an email to Hindustan Times revealing that legal action was initiated after her lawyer issued a notice to the production house, which she claims was disregarded.
While acknowledging that both works draw inspiration from the COVID-19 migrant exodus of 2020, Changoiwala claims that the similarities and resemblances between her novel and the movie are more than just the subject matter.
“Upon watching the film, I discovered that the producers have not only misappropriated the title of my book, but have also blatantly reproduced substantial portions of my novel in the second half of the film-including its scenes, dialogue, narrative structure, sequence of events, and other creative expressions," she wrote in her email.
After watching the movie, Changoiwala's lawyer sent a legal notice to Dharma Productions on October 15, with alleged detailed proof of infringement, but it was ignored.
She further accused Dharma of intentionally using her book's title to deceive the public, mentioning that the identical names could not be an accident, while further alleging that the movie's script was developed in 2022, a year after her novel had already been published.
Changoiwala has filed an application before the Maharashtra State Legal Services Authority under Section 12A of the Commercial Courts Act, 2015, which is a mandatory pre-institution mediation process required prior to filing a suit in the Bombay High Court.
She has candidly mentioned that she is seeking substantial remedies, including a permanent injunction against the movie's distribution, the removal of all allegedly infringing material, a change of the title, and monetary damages for the alleged copyright infringement.
Dharma Productions is yet to issue an official statement responding to the allegations.
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