Amitabh Bachchan in a still from Bhoothnath Returns
New Delhi:
Bollywood movie Bhoothnath Returns, starring Amitabh Bachchan, will hit theatres on April 11 asper schedule as the Delhi High Court today refused to stay itsrelease and rejected an interim plea of a Hindi writer thatthe film was copied from his literary work.
Justice A K Pathak asked the producers and others to filetheir response to the lawsuit of Sushant Supriya, Hindi shortstory writer and poet, within four weeks.The court, however, rejected the interim application ofthe author that the release of the movie be stalled otherwisehe would face irreparable injury.
The court perused, analysed and compared the brief synopsis ofthe script of the film and the trailer with the storyBhootnath written by Supriya in 2007."Their perusal shows that there may be some semblancebetween the petitioner's story and the film as they bothrelate to ghosts, but there are no substantial similaritiesbetween the two," the court said.
Bhoothnath Returns is a sequel to the 2008 movieBhoothnath, a ghost-based film whose shooting had started in2006 and the story of Supriya was published in 2007, it said.The court, however, made clear that its views were notfinal and listed the case for hearing on July 7.
During the hearing, senior advocate Pratibha ManinderSingh, appearing for the author, referred to nine expressionsfrom the trailer of the movie and said they have been copiedfrom short story Bhootnath of the writer published in 2007in the Hindi magazine Aaj Kal.The lawyer said Bhoothnath Returns is not the sequel toearlier movie Bhoothnath.
Earlier, a larger bench had first asked the writer andthe other parties to try to settle the dispute and later saidthat the single judge bench would decide the issue.
The petition had sought a direction from the court thatthe producers be prevented from the "screening trailer" andreleasing the "infringing" film in theatres.
The petition said, "Unlike most sequels, the infringingfilm is based on an entirely new storyline from the firstBhoothnath film, and has no relationship with the first film,especially in terms of the supporting cast.
"Even the central character of the infringing film has norelationship with the central character of the first Bhoothnathfilm. This demonstrates that the infringing film hasappropriated the plaintiff's original literary work."
It said, "An order for permanent injunction restrainingthe defendants, their partners or proprietor, frominfringing the copyright of the plaintiff in the literarycharacter Bhootnath, from screening the trailer of the filmBhoothnath Returns or releasing the film or parting with thesatellite or DVD or internet rights for the film" bepassed.
Bhoothnath Returns, directed by Nitesh Tiwari, is ahorror comedy film and is a sequel to the 2008 flick Bhoothnath.The film has been produced by Bhushan Kumar, KrishanKumar, Ravi Chopra and co-produced by Ajay Kapoor.Besides Mr Bachchan, Boman Irani and Shahrukh Khan are insupporting roles. The film also has a cameo appearance byRanbir Kapoor.
Justice A K Pathak asked the producers and others to filetheir response to the lawsuit of Sushant Supriya, Hindi shortstory writer and poet, within four weeks.The court, however, rejected the interim application ofthe author that the release of the movie be stalled otherwisehe would face irreparable injury.
The court perused, analysed and compared the brief synopsis ofthe script of the film and the trailer with the storyBhootnath written by Supriya in 2007."Their perusal shows that there may be some semblancebetween the petitioner's story and the film as they bothrelate to ghosts, but there are no substantial similaritiesbetween the two," the court said.
Bhoothnath Returns is a sequel to the 2008 movieBhoothnath, a ghost-based film whose shooting had started in2006 and the story of Supriya was published in 2007, it said.The court, however, made clear that its views were notfinal and listed the case for hearing on July 7.
During the hearing, senior advocate Pratibha ManinderSingh, appearing for the author, referred to nine expressionsfrom the trailer of the movie and said they have been copiedfrom short story Bhootnath of the writer published in 2007in the Hindi magazine Aaj Kal.The lawyer said Bhoothnath Returns is not the sequel toearlier movie Bhoothnath.
Earlier, a larger bench had first asked the writer andthe other parties to try to settle the dispute and later saidthat the single judge bench would decide the issue.
The petition had sought a direction from the court thatthe producers be prevented from the "screening trailer" andreleasing the "infringing" film in theatres.
The petition said, "Unlike most sequels, the infringingfilm is based on an entirely new storyline from the firstBhoothnath film, and has no relationship with the first film,especially in terms of the supporting cast.
"Even the central character of the infringing film has norelationship with the central character of the first Bhoothnathfilm. This demonstrates that the infringing film hasappropriated the plaintiff's original literary work."
It said, "An order for permanent injunction restrainingthe defendants, their partners or proprietor, frominfringing the copyright of the plaintiff in the literarycharacter Bhootnath, from screening the trailer of the filmBhoothnath Returns or releasing the film or parting with thesatellite or DVD or internet rights for the film" bepassed.
Bhoothnath Returns, directed by Nitesh Tiwari, is ahorror comedy film and is a sequel to the 2008 flick Bhoothnath.The film has been produced by Bhushan Kumar, KrishanKumar, Ravi Chopra and co-produced by Ajay Kapoor.Besides Mr Bachchan, Boman Irani and Shahrukh Khan are insupporting roles. The film also has a cameo appearance byRanbir Kapoor.
