Hrithik Roshan starrer “Mohenjo Daro”, slated for release in August 2016 has been the centre of a lot of speculation and controversies since the date it was announced. Directed by Ashutosh Gowariker, the movie is in the last leg of shooting.
Akashaditya Lama, the director of the movie ‘Cigarette ki Tarah’ and the writer of popular TV shows Kumkum, Kkusum and Hamari Betiyon ka Vivah, has sent a legal notice to UTV Films and Disney India, director Gowariker and Hrithik Roshan. Mr. Lama has alleged that the makers have copied the story of Mohenjo Daro originally written by him and has demanded a stay on the film’s production and release. Mr. Lama revealed that he had shared his script with his friend, Jaswinder Saluja (an associate of Ashutosh Gowariker), who passed on the script to the director for a read.
While the periodic drama is in the midst of a legal battle now, a statement was passed by Ashutosh Gowariker’s lawyer that they had received a script from Jaswinder Saluja in 2003, however, he had returned the same without reading it. At the time when the film was announced, the director claimed that there were “more than 25 books of research material journals and it took me 3 years to put everything together. There is no end to research but we have a script ready now.” On the other hand, Akashaditya registered the script of Mohenjodaro under the title ‘Saamrajya’ under the Copyright Act with the Ministry of Human Resource Development, Department of Secondary & Higher Education and also registered the same script under the title ‘Mohenjodaro’ with the Film Writers Association, Mumbai.
A report on the first court hearing on December 17 in City Civil and Session Court, Mumbai, after writer-filmmaker Akashaditya Lama’s copyright violation allegations over the Mohenjodaro script stated that Ashutosh Gowariker’s lawyers have refused to share ‘Mohenjo Daro’s’ script with Akashaditya Lama. Lama had also challenged Gowariker’s lawyers on lifting the climax of Jodhaa-Akbar from the climax of his original Mohenjodaro script.
Within a span of 20 days, two films starring Hrithik Roshan have faced allegations of copyright infringement. What remains to be seen is if all will be okay in Mohenjodaro paradise.
Authored by Nidhi Jhawar
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