Filmmakers Madhur Bhandarkar and Karan Johar are currently busy exchanging open letters over the title of Fabulous Lives Of Bollywood Wives. Madhur Bhandarkar has accused KJo's Dharma Productions of allegedly misappropriating the title 'Bollywood Wives', which was already registered with him. Mr Bhandarkar added that Karan Johar's request for the title 'Bollywood Wives' was also rejected by trade associations. On Thursday, Karan Johar apologized to Mr Bhandarkar for his "grievances during the course of the last few weeks" in a lengthy statement, however, maintaining that Fabulous Lives Of Bollywood Wives is a "new and different title". Responding to Mr Johar's open letter, Mr Bhandarkar wrote while he accepts his apology and would like to move on from the matter, "this is not how real relationships work."
In his response, Madhur Bhandarkar reminded Karan Johar that "mutual trust and respect" form the essential core of the film industry's inside mechanism, which Karan Johar appears to have violated: "This is indeed a close-knit industry and it operates on mutual trust and respect. When we blatantly disregard norms that we ourselves have established, then it makes very little sense calling ourselves a 'fraternity'," Mr Bhandarkar wrote.
Referring to a 2013 film Gutka, which was eventually shelved, Madhur Bhandarkar added: "I didn't hesitate a moment in the past before granting you the title 'GUTKA' in 2013, that you had requested from me, and hence I would have expected the same courtesy in return when I declined you the use of a title I had duly registered, and which I did not intend to part with. The fact that you went ahead and used the title anyway despite our conversation and despite it also having been rejected by the trade associations, is what had upset me deeply. This is not how I believe real relationships work."
Madhur Bhandarkar signed off his note with these words: "But let's move forward. I accept your apology and would like to leave things here."
Dear @karanjohar ???? https://t.co/uNHu4cq8KQ pic.twitter.com/iE9gbQnUpI
— Madhur Bhandarkar (@imbhandarkar) November 26, 2020
Earlier, Karan Johar had described himself as an "admirer" of Madhur Bhandarkar's work and tweeted this justification of sorts: "I know you have been upset with us. I humbly apologise for my grievances during the course of the last few weeks. However, I would want to clarify that we have chosen this new and different title The Fabulous Lives Of Bollywood Wives keeping in mind the non-fiction format of our reality-based franchise series. As our title was distinct, I did not foresee it upsetting you as it has and for that I duly apologise."
To my dear friend @imbhandarkar ????❤️ pic.twitter.com/l5oX2hmM8A
— Karan Johar (@karanjohar) November 26, 2020
The Fabulous Lives Of Bollywood Wives premiered on Netflix on Friday and is based on the lives of four star-wives - Seema Khan (married to Sohail Khan), Maheep Kapoor (Sanjay Kapoor's wife), Bhavana Pandey (wife of Chunky Pandey) and Neelam Kothari (married to Samir Soni).
