Dabboo Ratnani hits back in plagiarism row with a picture!

Tabu in the picture shared by Dabboo Ratnani. Picture courtesy Dabboo Ratnani's Instagram account

After netizens accused Dabboo Ratnani of plagiarism, suggesting that he had mimicked international photographer Marie Barsch's concept to recreate it with Kiara Advani, the Indian photographer hit back. Users had made a collage of Advani's photograph, and Barsch's picture to showcase the similarities between them.

The collage was also reportedly shared by Barsch on her Instagram story with the caption: "I just leave that here." However, Ratnani was quick to pull out from his archives an image of Tabu that bore resemblance to both the snaps.

"Beautiful @tabutiful for #dabbooratnanicalendar 2002 #lovenature This timeless & mesmerising shot of Tabu was taken in the year 2001 and it featured in my calendar in the year 2002. There's been a lil noise about @kiaraaliaadvani 's breathtaking 2020 calendar shot with leaf ! Guess if I can reuse my camera, I can definitely repeat my own concept ! & if at all that doesn't go well with trolls, then I admit to plagiarising MY OWN SELF #loveandpeace @dabbooratnani @manishadratnani Huge Thanks to my friends who trust me ! That's all that matters [sic]"

Like every year, Dabboo Ratnani's calendar launch was a grand affair with who's who of Bollywood in attendance. Bhumi Pednekar, Sunny Leone with hubby Daniel Weber, Isha Koppikar, Lopamudra Raut, Mandana Karimi, Vikas Gupta, Urvashi Rautela, Vidya Balan, Poonam Dhillon, Aamir Ali, Deepshikha Deshmukh, Jackie Shroff, Rekha, among others attended the event The 2020 offering marks 21 years of his calendar. It coincides with his 25th year in the industry. Talking about it with mid-day, Dabboo said, "The calendars are a mark of my love for photography. I don't sell them. It's gifted to media, fashion and film folk."

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