On Saturday (June 26), a group of Korean drama enthusiasts sparked a controversy after they accused Former NDTV Editor Puja Talwar of plagiarism.
‘Crash Landed on Kdramas’, a group of 4 women who conduct podcasts on Korean drama, was miffed with the former NDTV journalist for allegedly lifting content from the 6th episode of their podcast without due credits.
Daebak! @talwar_puja has given a visual representation of what we 4 gals discussed in the 6th episode ‘Dash of Kimchi’ of our podcast #crashlandedonkdramas 👏🏼👌https://t.co/oAYGEEtIgg https://t.co/c2pPFfGKLu
— CrashLandedonKdramas (@CrashLandedonKD) June 26, 2021
In a tweet, they informed, “Daebak (That’s awesome)! Puja Talwar has given a visual representation of what we 4 gals discussed in the 6th episode ‘Dash of Kimchi’ of our podcast.” Talwar is currently Executive Editor Entertainment and Lifestyle with My Good Times.
The background of the controversy
The podcasters had uploaded the episode ‘Dash of Kimchi’ on their Spotify channel on March 24. During the episode, the four women discussed about the significance of food in K-dramas and how it provided an insight into the Korean culture. They talked about Kimchi (a traditional Korean side dish of fermented vegetables), the peculiarity of a Kimchi slap (slapping someone with Kimchi) and Soju (Korean alcoholic beverage). For every Korean dish, the podcasters had recommended dramas and food shows.
The 43-minute long podcast talked about food shows such as ‘Oh my Ghost’, and ‘My name is Kim Sam Soon’, dramas such as ‘What’s Wrong with Secretary Kim’, ‘Crash Landing on You’ and talked about the cuisine that is featured.
About three months after the podcasters had released their episode, ex-NDTV journalist Puja Talwar uploaded a YouTube video on Korean cuisine and dramas on Friday (June 25). The theme of the video was similar to that of the podcast of ‘Crash Landed on Kdramas’. Talwar, too, had cited several examples, that matched the ones of the podcasters. It included ‘Oh my Ghost’, ‘My name is Kim Sam Soon’, What’s Wrong with Secretary Kim’, and ‘Crash Landing on You.’
Clarification by the NDTV journalist on plagiarism charges
As such, the podcasters accused the journalist of plagiarising their original content without giving them credits. After the controversy erupted, Puja Talwar responded to the accusations and claimed to be unaware of any such podcast. She wrote, “Oh really. Was unaware that there was a podcast like, will give it a listen.”
‘Crash Landed on Kdramas’ was quick to point out that Puja Talwar was ‘well-aware’ of their podcast as early as May 7. The group had posted a screenshot, where the Talwar was seen responding to a tweet on a different episode of the podcast. Talwar had then appreciated the group.
Talwar fired back, “So what are you implying here that my concept and scrpit has been influenced by your podcast? Pl understand k dramas and food have documented by all. Also i have been watching these dramas for years and also have u seen the video what’s the similarity.”
Screengrab of the tweet by Puja Talwar
Puja Talwar further claimed that she did not listen to any of the episodes of the podcast and that her comment was just a ‘courteous’ response. She added that her comment did not imply anything more than a polite gesture. “And let’s not make incorrect allegations and demanding credits,” the journalist tweeted.
Calling it a sad state of affairs, Talwar further said, “Sure it may have been but if you read articles and watch other shows these are the iconic moments ..and i don’t know why do i need to justify myself to you all..but fine you made an observation but the trolling you are promoting alongside.. is just uncalled for.”
Screengrab of the tweet by Puja Talwar
Response of the podcasters
‘Crash Landed on Kdramas’ emphasised, “We did see the video & the content was strikingly similar. A lot of content is available on KDramas and food – absolutely agree, but not once has there been so much similarity in the concept order & scenes.”
Reiterating that the episode was aired on March 21, the podcasters said that the striking similarity between their content was the only observation that they made. Many listeners of the podcast also noticed striking similarities and expressed disappointment that due credit could have been given to the content creators.
