This year at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, much noise was created in the ad industry for one of Early Man Films and Kondurkar Studio’s ‘Jindal Steel: The Steel of India’ film was questioned for the jury members of the Festival announced it as one of the work which won a Silver and a Bronze Lion in the Film Category of the awards gala.
This development came in the aftermath of Jindal Steel and Wieden+ Kennedy informing the Delhi High Court in May 2024 that they’ve settled their disputes ‘amicably’ after the Delhi HC has sent the matter in arbitration noting that the film’s montage was prima facie substantially based on a similar theme.
After keeping mum for a really long time, Kondurkar studio has finally opened up and sent out a press statement to media, claiming that the film is ‘entirely original’ and that the studio had no prior knowledge of anything that the larger agency (Wieden + Kennedy’ might have earlier shared with Jindal Steel.
In the beginning of its press note, Kondurkar Studio mentioned, “In recent weeks, Kondurkar Studio and its founder- Amrish Kondurkar, have been subjected to a wave of negative, unfounded and unsubstantiated media coverage regarding the ‘The Steel of India’ campaign.”
With this, the studio also pointed out that despite Kondurkar embarking on an independent journey with integrity and creativity, dedicating his talents to creating original and impactful work, both he and his studio are being ‘unfairly targeted by a larger competitor’ in the industry, under the pretext of ‘bizarre accusations of copyright infringement and lack of originality’.
As per Kondurkar Studio, the particular film was developed on the basis of the client’s brief aimed at bringing alive the Indian resilience to land on the brand line of “The Steel of India.”
“The film, which signs off with ‘The Sound of India’, is entirely original. We had no prior knowledge of anything that the larger agency might have earlier shared with our client. It is worth noting that Amrish Kondurkar, our founder, left his previous role in January 2023, and our client reached out to them for a pitch in late July 2023, well after his departure, negating any overlap or claim of idea theft,” it clarified.
To further add gravitas to its statement, the studio suggested that since this film was a montage film, a genre that involves creating a narrative from various shots and scenes and the brief was always to celebrate the power of steel and the resilience of India, hence, any montage film on India & Steel will naturally have to portray the themes depicted in the film.
“To claim copyright infringement on such a basis is not only baseless but also a stretch of the imagination. The allegations are supported by misrepresented screenshots that arrange shots from various sources to falsely suggest direct copying. However, a 2-minute film is much more substantial than a few misleading screenshots added to create a narrative post final film creation,” the statement read.
In addition, the studio also stated that the Delhi High Court, after thorough adjudication, found no wrongdoing on the part of Kondurkar Studio and that the resolution highlighted broader corporate concerns rather than individual actions, validating the studio’s position that the campaign was independently and originally created by Kondurkar Studio.
“In reality, our film is a unique creation. The film created by Kondurkar Studio, brought to life by the talented director Ayappa from Earlyman Film, involved no collaboration or communication with the larger agency during its development. It is therefore absurd for them to demand credit for a film they had no part in conceptualizing or producing. The entire process from briefing the director, to sharing treatment notes, to conducting PPM, shoots, and post-production, was carried out independently by Kondurkar Studio and Earlyman Film,” the statement stated.
In light of all of these, the studio also urged all media houses to refrain from publishing reports without hearing their side of the story as it is expected that media houses maintain journalistic integrity and post unbiased stories.
“As responsible professionals, we ask that you verify facts before printing , and avoid blindly supporting larger agencies at the expense of independent creators. Kondurkar Studio remains dedicated to delivering innovative and original creative solutions while upholding the highest ethical standards,” the studio mentioned in the concluding paragraph of its statement.
