Good news for Fanney Khan! On Wednesday, the Supreme Court rejected producer Vashu Bhagnani's plea against the film's release, reported news agency IANS. The legal battle started just days before release when Fanney Khan was taken to court over the film's distribution rights - producer Vashu Bhagnani demanded distribution rights of the film claiming he has already paid Rs 8.5 crores of a Rs 10 crore deal which he entered into with Prernaa Arora of KriArj Entertainment. Prernaa had dropped the project from her list after a few months after which Mr Bhagnani told T-Series that distribution rights be assigned to his firm Pooja Entertainment & Films Ltd as per the previous deal.
Bhushan Kumar's T-Series, which was previously co-producing the film with KriArj, is now in complete charge of the film's production rights (along with Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra), refused to acknowledge any deal which KriArj may have signed with third parties without their knowledge. Hence, Bhushan Kumar's lawyer dismissed Vashu Bhagnani's claims, saying Prernaa was prohibited from signing any contract otherwise without legal consent from T-Series: "Therefore, any agreement that KriArj may have entered into with Vashu ji's companies, are void in law and cannot supersede our client's rights," DNA had quoted the lawyer as saying last month. Vashu Bhagnani and Prernaa Arora had allegedly shook hands over a multi-project distribution deal, which also includes Shahid Kapoor's Batti Gul Meter Chalu.
Vashu Bhagnani had earlier moved the Delhi and Bombay High Courts over the matter, after which the Delhi High Court instructed Mr Bhagnani to not obstruct the film's release. However on Monday, the Supreme Court agreed to hear Mr Bhagnani's case and announced its decision on Wednesday.
Vashu Bhagnani continued to claim that Pooja Films deposited a sum of Rs 8.50 crore (over half of the agreed amount) as KriArj appeared to be in desperate need of money, reported mid-day. As per the deal, the rest was to be paid a week before release. "KirArj has sold the India theatrical distribution (rights) to my client for Rs. 10 crore. Rs. 5.5 crore was to be paid when signing the agreement on December 16, 2017, and the rest, a week before the release (of the film). Since Prernaa needed money, my client paid her R8.5 crore in advance. Now, T-Series tells us we don't have rights to distribute the film," mid-day quoted Mr Bhagnani's lawyer as saying earlier.
Directed by Atul Manjrekar, Fanney Khan stars Anil Kapoor, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Rajkummar Rao and Pihu Sand and is all set to hit screens on August 3.
