By A Staff Reporter, Kathmandu, May 21: Actress Surakshya Panta has expressed regret after it was revealed that her short film “Man Bar” was a copy of a Hindi short film “Naamard”.

Panta said that she would not have worked for the short movie if she had known that it was an exact copy of a Hindi short film. The short film “Man Bar” was released on YouTube on April 14. Naamard was released on YouTube on February 20, 2019.

Posting her confession for playing the short film on her Facebook on Thursday, Panta wrote, “I am very disappointed to find out that a short film I played was a copy of a Hindi short film. If I had known it earlier, I would not have done it.”

She further stated that artists work on a film after they like the story, but incidents like the recent ones affect them. “Personally, I am totally against copying films and movies. I regret being a part of this unknowingly,” wrote Panta.

She also informed that there were talks to make a sequel for ‘Man Bar’ but after the revelation, she decided not to work on it. Panta further added, “The whole industry must be aware and learn from this incident.”

Surakshya Panta and Koshish Chhetri had done the lead roles in the short film directed by Jiwan Shahi. Rupendra Khadgi has written the story, script, and dialogues of this film.

The Hindi short film “Naamarda” was written by Jayesh Mestry.

It has Poornima Phuse and Annkur Vinchuurkar in the lead role. Panta’s confession was appreciated by artists, including Kedar Ghimire (Magne Buda), Usha Rajak, Benisha Hamal, and others. Since it was revealed that ‘Man Bar’ was copied, its viewing in YouTube has been made private.