WHO IS SOURABH CHATTERJEE?

by Marilyn Abalos
Word is going around that there is this guy who allegedly may have passed original plays around the theater circuit as his own. Hard to believe that in the Big Apple our local theater companies have been fooled by a slick shyster named Sourabh. How shameful that one South Asian emerging playwright may actually think that he can get away plagiarism. At least one playwright has started legal action against Sourabh Chatterjee also known as Sourabh Chatt for plagiarizing his play.

Reportedly, playwright Jeff Hoffman is pursuing legal action against Sourabh Chatterjee for plagiarizing his play, "Francis Brick Needs No Introduction" by passing "Wake Up, Mr. Biswas, Your Sons Are Talking" as his own. "Mr. Biswas" was read at the Ohio Theatre last April sponsored by Ma-Yi Theatre Company. Someone from the audience who had been associated with Hoffman and "Mr. Bricks" saw that Chatterjee's play was "nearly word for word" Hoffman's play and notified the producer Harriet Hendlin. Hoffman's play, about four brothers at their father's wake, has been performed in both NY and LA and is published by Sam French. According to Hoffman, "Chatterjee's play simply takes Indian character names and substitutes them for my own."

When confronted, said Hoffman, Chatterjee admitted to Hoffman that he had, indeed, ripped-off the play and offered his apologies. It seems that Chatterjee and Hoffman were actually friends at one time.

According to Ralph Pena, Artistic Director of Ma-Yi, "We found about about the alleged plagiarism at the same time everyone else did. We have asked Sourabh many times to give us a reply and he has not. Sourabh joined the newly formed Ma-Yi Playwrights' Workshop in April. This is a new group that Sung Rno heads. Some of the members' works were given a staged reading in May, the same time we were doing "wAve." Sourabh submitted "Mr. Biswas," and this was read by a South Asian group of actors. Someone from the Lark Theater apparently saw this reading and alerted Jeff Hoffman, who has a relationship with the Lark. That's when we found out about it. Sourbah has been dropped from the Ma-Yi playwrights group. We have not been able to confirm the allegations, either way, but his silence is not promising."

SALAAM!'s (South Asian League of Artists in AMerica) Literary Manager, Anuvab Pal, conveyed to Hoffman last April, "On behalf of Citygirl and myself, it saddens us to great lengths to find this information about Sourabh Chaterjee, a playwright whose work we have seen develop at various NY venues. I don't quite know what else to say except our wishes are with you and I hope this doesn't continue. I hope also that you are able to regain rights on the plays that you mention are rightfully yours. Our effort here is to present cutting edge ORIGINAL South Asian theatre, and cultivate playwrights discover their own voices. We, like you, do not support any form of intellectual theft; and our effort remains to add to existing voices in the NY theatre community and not detract from it."

It seems that also The Public Theater and The New Group, among others, presented another Chatterjee "original" play. According to Pal, "Zoo" sounds exactly similar to a play called "Sonamoni" that, among other things, got a reading at "The Public Theater. And The New Group! Both of which I saw! They have the same careers you mention. Sonamoni even got a reading at Salaam. I am indeed amazed as to how someone could do this...and with an acquaintance!!!...it is truly a bad reflection on the community." Hoffman has said, that he does not think that these theater companies knew of Sourabh's trickery. "They were," Hoffman said, "I believe, just as duped as I was. Sourabh is solely responsible for this mess."