The Karnataka High Court has cleared the way for Ajay Devgn's new film Maidaan after it was stayed by a Mysore court. The high court ruled in favour of the film after its makers appealed the lower court's order which stayed the film from releasing in any language or form, including on OTT. On Thursday, Bar and Bench shared that the Karnataka High Court had cleared Maidaan for release in the state - the film has been accused of plagiarism by a scriptwriter who claimed to have written the story of Maidaan some years ago. Maidaan is already in theatres and had a slow start at the box office.
On X, Bar and Bench wrote, "Karnataka High Court lifts stay on release of Hindi film Maidaan." According to Bar and Bench, Justice SR Krishna Kumar issued a notice on a writ petition filed by Boney Kapoor, the film's producer, and temporarily stayed the order restraining the film's release. A hearing has been scheduled for April 24.
In a now-deleted LinkedIn post, scriptwriter Anil Kumar claimed that he had shared his idea about a film focusing on Indian football players' struggles post-independence with an assistant director of the film in 2017. However, upon seeing the trailer of Maidaan, he said that he realised that his story had allegedly been used without his consent, reported News18.
He wrote, "In 2010, I started writing the story and in 2018, I posted a poster about this, and I got in contact with ad director Sukhdas Suryavanshi through my LinkedIn post. He called me to Bombay (Mumbai) and asked me to get the script. I have the whole chat history. He told me that he'd make me meet Aamir Khan, but I couldn't meet him for certain reasons. I gave him the story and registered the same with the Screen writers Association. Recently, I heard that a movie named Maidaan is getting released. I was surprised because even I have the same story. When I looked at the teaser and their statements, I got to know that it was my story. They have twisted the main story itself and made this movie. I named the story Paadakanduka (sic)."
Reacting to this, the makers of the film - Zee Studios and Boney Kapoor's Bayview Projects LLP, issued a statement on X (formerly Twitter). The statement read, "Dear all, We have just been served the copy of the Order of the District Judge restraining the release of the film. At the outset, we would like to place on record that the said order passed by the District Judge is an ex-parte order, without giving us an opportunity of being heard."
The statement added, "We were not served any notice prior to the filing of the said suit for hearing of the matter. Additionally, the said order has been passed after the release of the film and therefore, any such order passed that restrains the release of the film is infructuous under law."
"However, we are filing an appeal against the order before the Ho'nble High Court of Karnataka. We shall move the matter before the Hon'ble High Court for urgent reliefs in order to stay the operation of the said order. Without prejudice to the aforesaid, we are taking all the steps as we have been legally advised, kindly be assured that the release of the film can continue. We shall update you regarding the further developments regarding this once we move the matter before the Hon'ble High Court. Best regards," the statement concluded.
Read the full statement here
Maidaan stars Ajay Devgn, Priyamani and Gajraj Rao in key roles.