This satellite thing has become a bit of a headache for the Indian entertainment industry. For decades Bollywood has been plagiarizing the west. For instance Jism was a copy of 1944 classic Double Indemnity while Kuch To hai is a copy of I know what you did last summer. However the advent of StarTV has taken away a lot of opportunities to copy simply because most of the movies are being shown in the subcontinent.

However, now there is a big trend to look elsewhere for ideas. Thanks to our reader Seyd, we are told that the popular soap in India, Jassi Jaissi Koi Nahin ( loosely translated There is no one like Jassi ) is a near xerox of “Latin American TV phenomenon, ‘Betty La Fea‘ or ‘Betty the Ugly One”, a soap opera about an ugly duckling (Betty) who dreams of marrying her boss and becoming a successful business woman.”

‘Jassi Jaissi Koi Nahin‘ airs weekdays at 9:30 PM CST on the SET channel, and the second ( or third? ) part of ‘Betty la Fea’ airs on Telefutura at 5:00 PM CST. Telefutura is about to launch the cartoon version of ‘Betty la Fea’, Betty Toons, so keep watching. If you are interested in reading more about ‘Betty la Fea’ and the impact it had in Latin America.

Now thanks to satellite TV, for it is being shown here in the states, the thievery has been exposed. One billion people, so few original ideas. Sigh…suddenly I know why I left.