No Stay At 11th Hour: Bombay High Court Refuses To Stall Release Of Ayushmann Khurrana Starrer 'Dream Girl 2'

The Bombay High Court has refused to stay the release of the Ayushmann Khurrana starrer Dream Girl 2 slated to hit the theatres tomorrow. The film is produced by Ekta Kapoor’s Balaji Telefilms.

Justice Riyaz Chagla passed the order in a Commercial IPR suit filed by writer-director Ashim Kumar Bagchi wherein he alleged that makers are passing off his registered script as their own.

Bagchi sought an interim injunction on the release of the film. However, the court observed the interim plea was filed only on August 18, 2023 and the respondent must be given an opportunity to respond.

“It is well settled that at the eleventh hour, films should not be prevented from their release. An opportunity is required to be given to Respondent / Defendant to file their reply to the Interim Application.”

The defendants include Balaji Telefilms, Ekta Kapoor, Shobha Kapoor, Raaj Shaandilya and Naresh Kathooria. The court directed them to file their affidavits to the suit within a week and listed the matter for hearing on August 31, 2023.

The court also took note of Bagchi’s contention that his screen play and script was registered first with the Film Writers Association in 2007 and Screen Writers Association under the name of “Show Must Go On.”

In the suit, Bagchi states he has worked on several Bollywood projects including David Dhawan’s Chasme Baddoor. “The film Dream Girl 2 produced by the defendants constitutes a significant reproduction or a modified iteration of the plaintiff’s work. This act amounts to violation of the plaintiff’s copyright,” the plea states.

The plaintiff says his script revolved around two broke men under severe debt, one of whom pretends to be a woman. A womanizing producer falls in love with her. The movie revolves around how he manages to get out of tricky situations.

Bagchi says he had shared the synopsis of the film with a couple of people in the industry only. However, when he saw the trailer of Dream Girl – 2 he instantly felt his concept was copied.

Bagchi says he had gotten in touch with Balaji for this same script in 2013 and even emailed the script to them.

“The plaintiff states that the Plaintiff’s original work created by him was years of his vision precipitated into his original literary work and was written with a vision to transform the same into a motion picture.”

Bagchi has therefore sought Rs. 20 crore in damages and for infringement of copyright along with permanent injunction.

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