Dream Girl 2: Bombay High Court says no to stay on the AyushmannKhurrana starrer at the eleventh hour

26th August, 2023 - 2:09 pm Categories: Legal Issues Media & Entertainment Law 0 Comments

On August 22 2023,the Bombay High Court refused to stay the release of the film in a copyright infringement suit filed against the Ayushmann Khurrana and Ananya Pandaystarrer Dream Girl 2. It stated that the release should not be halted at the eleventh hour.

The film produced by Shobha Kapoor and Ekta Kapoorunder the banner of Balaji Telefilms hit the theatres on the 25^th of August 2023.

The infringement suit

Director and writer Ashim Kumar Bagchi filed a commercial copyright suitin the High Court of Bombayon the 18^th of August 2023. Bagchisought an interim injunction on the release of the film Dream Girl 2. Bagchicontended that the story of the film, as shown in its trailer, has a close resemblance to that of his screenplay and script. He allegedly registered the screenplay and script titled ‘Show Must Go On’with the Film Writers Association and the Screen Writers Association in 2007. He also claimedto have re-registered the script after altering its title a bit.

Bagchi contended that he discovered the similarities between the film and his allegedlyregistered screenplay after watching the film’s trailer on the 1^st of August 2023. He allegedly shared the synopsis of the film with merely two people in the industry. Bagchi also stated that one of the defendants, Balaji Telefilms, was aware of the script as he had been in touch with it in 2013.

Bagchi stated that he found many similarities between the plots and the depiction of characters in the film and his script. His scriptallegedly relates toa couple of unemployed and severely indebted men. One among them feigns to be a woman and entices a philandering producer.

Following the shocking discovery, Bagchi allegedly issued a cease-and-desist notice to Balaji Telefilms. However, neither Balaji Telefilms nor the directors of this film responded to the notice. It apparently led to Bagchi filing the present suit.

Making Balaji Telefilms, Ekta Kapoor, Shobha Kapoor, Raaj Shaandilya and Naresh Kathooria defendants in this suit, Bagchi seeksRs 20 crores in damages. As aforementioned, he sought to obtain a permanent injunction on the release of the film Dream Girl 2.

The court’s stand

The Single-Judge bench of the Bombay High Court led by Justice Riyaz Chagla rejected Bagchi’s plea seeking an interim injunction on the release of the film. Despite Bagchi’s contentions, the court noted the fact that the plea was filed merely a few before the release of the film. It failed to provide the defendants with sufficient time to file their responses. The court opined that the respondents must be given an opportunity to be heard. The court directed the defendants to file their affidavits to the suit in a week and postponed the matter to be next heard on the 31^st of August 2023.

No halt at the eleventh-hour

Justice Riyaz Chagla stated that, “It is well settled that at the eleventh hour, films should not be prevented from their release.”He expressed the defendants’ right to file their reply to the application.

It is worth noting that the principle of not preventing the release of any film at the eleventh houris settled through several cases like Ravi Mallesh Bohra and Ors. v. State of Maharashtra and Ors. (2021 SCC OnLine Bom 6797), Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. &Anr.v. Harinder Kohli&Ors. (ILR (2009) 1 Del 722), etc. In the case of Dashrath B. Rathod and Ors. v. Fox Star Studios India Pvt. Ltd. and Ors. ((2017) 3 AIR Bom R 447) it was observed that “The practice of parties claiming copyright infringement coming to court at the eleventh hour and expecting courts to drop all other work to listen to and decide their applications on a priority basis must be discouraged.”

[Image Sources :Shutterstock]

There are two reasons behind this principle. Firstly, filing a copyright infringement suit against a soon-releasing movie gives no time for the already burdened Indian courts to decide. Secondly, at the eleventh hour, production houses may have already spent a huge amount of money in promoting the film.The audience probably would have already booked tickets to watch it. So, it would be a big loss for the film industry if the film’s release is halted at the last moment.

Concluding remarks

The next hearing of the present infringement suit filed by Ashim Kumar Bagchi is on the 31^st of August 2023. Given how late the plaintiff filed the suit, the Hon’ble court was right in providing sufficient time for the defendants to file their affidavits. Nevertheless, it is worth noting a disturbing trend in the film industry. As observed by Justice G.S. Patel in the case of Akashaditya Harishchandra Lama v. Ashutosh Gowarikar(2016 SCC OnLine Bom 9132), “There is an unfortunate trend in this court, increasingly frequent. At the eleventh hour, a few days or, at most, a few weeks before a major film’s scheduled theatrical release, some party rushes to this Court with a claim that his or her creative work has been plagiarized by the film’s director and producers.”These last-minute litigations may be either cases of genuine copyright infringement or frivolous claims filed to gain popularity quickly. Nevertheless, it’s just a matter of time before we know which categorythe present case belongs to.

Author: G.B.Vishwa and J Jerusha Melanie, in case of any queries please contact/write back to us via email to chhavi@khuranaandkhurana.com or at Khurana & Khurana, Advocates and IP Attorney.