Indian filmmaker Soham Shah has filed a lawsuit against Netflix, accusing the platform of copying his 2009 Bollywood film *Luck* in its hit Korean series *Squid Game*. The lawsuit was filed in a federal court in New York, where Shah claims that *Squid Game* is a “blatant rip-off” of his Hindi-language movie.
In the lawsuit, Shah points out several similarities between his film and the Netflix show, alleging that the core elements such as the plot, characters, themes, mood, setting, and sequence of events are too similar for it to be a coincidence.
*Luck*, released in 2009, centers on a group of financially desperate people who are drawn into a series of competitive games with the promise of a large cash prize, only to discover that losing the games leads to death. Shah is also suing *Squid Game* creator and writer Hwang Dong-hyuk, who has claimed that he came up with the story in 2009, the same year *Luck* was released globally.
Shah argues that he wrote the script for *Luck* around 2006, and the film was released in theaters in 2009. He is now seeking compensation from Netflix, especially since the streaming giant’s market value rose by more than $900 million after the release of *Squid Game*.
In response to the lawsuit, Netflix issued a statement dismissing Shah’s claims. “This claim has no merit,” a Netflix spokesperson said, adding, “Squid Game was created and written by Hwang Dong-hyuk, and we intend to defend this matter vigorously.”
Shah’s lawsuit comes as *Squid Game* prepares for the release of its second season, set to debut on Netflix on December 26.