Bong Joon-ho’s but the South Korean film is now being accused of biting the plot of an Indian film from the 90s.

Indian filmmaker P.L. Thenappan told India Today that the concept of his 1999 romantic comedy Minsara Kanna was plagiarized in Joon-ho’s Parasite. “I saw the South Korean film ‘Parasite’ and I feel that they have stolen the film’s crux from ‘Minsara Kanna.’ I’m in talks with international lawyers and contemplating on filing a case against the makers of Parasite soon,” he said.

“They have taken the plot from my film. When they find out that some of our films have been inspired by their films, they file cases. Similarly, it is only fair for us to do the same,” Thenappan added in an interview with TNM News. 

Despite Thenappan’s claims of plagiarism, the director of Minsara Kanna, K.S. Ravikumar, applaud Parasite for the Oscar win. “I’m happy that the story has received an Oscar, even if it [‘Minsara Kanna’] served as an inspiration. However, filing a case is up to the producer,” he said.

CJ Entertainment, the production company behind Parasite issued a statement denying any of these claims that the plot was stolen. “We have no knowledge about plagiarism claims from an Indian film. We have not received any information regarding this issue,” they said.