Oscar 2020 winner 'Parasite' borrowed from 1999 Tamil film? Netizens claim

Fans recently saw iconic wins at the 92nd Academy Awards. With Joaquin Phoenix winning the Best Actor award for his performance in Joker, the Oscars 2020 also saw the very first non-English language win for the Best Film category.

The Bong Joon Ho directorial Parasite not only bagged the Best Film award but also won the Oscars in the Best Screenplay category. Fans from all around the world have been celebrating this win as it marks a culturally powerful victory for non-English cinema.

Fans think Parasite has been copied from a 1999 Tamil Film

However, a few netizens have been claiming that the Oscars winning film has a similar plotline as that of a 1999 Tamil film, titled Minsara Kanna that featured Vijay and Khushboo. The film was directed by KS Sivakumar and revolved around the life of Indira who hates men and only employes women in her staff. Kaasi enters her life as her driver and soon, one by one, his entire family finds employment in her house. Parasite also shares a similar theme of infiltration.

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While many fans claim that the film is borrowed from Minsara Kanna, fans of the South Korean film beg to differ. A film critic, Maathevan, stated in a web article that similarity in plotline cannot be used to claim that the concept that anchored Parasite was inspired by the Tamil movie. He added that parallel thinking does exist in the world and it is not surprising to see such ideas coming to different people without probably seeing each other’s works.

For the unversed, Parasite is a 2019 South Korean mystery drama directed by Bong Joon Ho. The plot revolves around the newly formed symbiotic relationship between the wealthy Park family and the destitute Kim clan. But the relationship is threatened by greed and caste discrimination. The film stars Park So-dam, Cho Yeo‑jeong, and Choi Woo‑shik in the lead roles. 

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