Court orders injunction on televised release of Jannat 2

24 Aug 2012

Even though, the screen writer Kapil Chopra, who filed a case against Bhatts alleging plagiarism, hasn't got credit or payment as a writer of Jannat 2, he hasn't lost the battle entirely. The High Court has granted an interim injunction on the satellite release of the film till the further order. This means Bhatts won't be able to release the film in spite of depositing Rs. 10 lakhs that court demanded earlier.

A source close to Kapil reveals, "On 27th July, the Film Writers Association had submitted a detailed report to the court whereby it has said there are striking similarities between Kapil's script and Jannat 2. They have found there has been not only the infringement of the copyright but breach of confidence too. They referred to the emails exchanged between Kunal Deshmukh and Kapil and agreed that it's indeed a copy. Subsequently, the court passed the order of injunction on the televised release of the film till the further decision is taken in the matter."

The software engineer turned writer who had filed the case against Bhatts in May is very disappointed with the way writers are treated in the film industry. He laments, "Everyone says content is the king but writer is still a poor man and is short changed with these kind of activities. I have seen a trend of copying scenes from the released films or even replicating the entire film in our industry but it really hurts when you take away someone's unreleased work which is hard work of many years and not even give credit or money."

The young writer informs, "Apparently, I have heard the film has earned nearly Rs. 40 crores and there have been success parties at five star hotels, the man who created the characters and conceived the story hasn't seen a single penny. On the other hand, the Bhatts are trying to sabotage my career by calling me delusional in media. I have claimed Rs.10 lakhs as a fee and I have not received the money yet. They are trying to confuse the matter by bringing in censor board issue."

The lawyer Rashmin Khandekar who is representing Kapil's case refused to comment. However, the young writer who strongly believes in the judiciary system of the country adds hopefully, "My entire family and extended family of writers will remain eternally indebted to the Judiciary system of this country. We are glad that they have heard us out and proceedings will take place. I know that justice will prevail."