Maverick director Mahesh Bhatt has his own take on the lack of original scripts in Bollywood. “When you say there is a lack of originality nowadays, you are presuming that once upon a time there was originality. Nothing under the sun is original. Everything is sourced from somewhere,” says the maker of several “inspired” films.

If the scripts are not directly plagiarised, then they have references to other films. However, Bhatt does believe that one needs original thoughts and a renewed vigour, which are missing. “Films today are good-looking but have old thoughts. Their core is tired,” he insists.

Another release this month that is said to be inspired by Hollywood is Kunal Shivdasani’s Hijack. Starring Shiney Ahuja, it is said to have shades of Bruce Willis’ much-loved Die Hard. However Shivdasani is firm that his is “an absolutely original script”. “Only the skeleton is similar to Die Hard,” he attempts an explanation.

“In Die Hard, the hero has to save his wife from a building hijacked by terrorists. In this, a father (Ahuja) has to save his daughter from a hijacked plane. Otherwise, the emotions involved and the way the screenplay unfolds are very different.” In fact, Shivdasani says there are good scripts. “We have good scripts, it’s just that filmmaking has become a big business and people concentrate on the business aspect of it rather than the creative aspect,” he reasons. “But there is no lack of good writers in the industry.”

Abbas Tyrewala who wrote and directed the recent blockbuster Jaane Tu… Ya Jaane Na is terse about the obvious trend. “It’s self-evident,” he says.