Telangana Court Imposes ₹10 Lakh Cost On Filmmaker Who Sought Injunction On Release Of Amitabh Bachchan Starrer 'Jhund'

A local Court in Telangana has dismissed a petition filed by Hyderabad filmmaker Nandi Chini Kumar, seeking to restrain the release of Amitabh Bachchan starrer 'Jhund', which hit the theatres today. The Court also imposed a cost of Rs. 10 lakh.

Kumar had sought to recall January 2021 order whereby the civil suit filed by him seeking damages from Super Casettes (TSeries), producer of the film, was disposed of by recording an out of court settlement.

Significantly, the film is based on the life of Mr. Vijay Barse, a social worker and soccer coach. Kumar claimed that he had acquired Life rights of Mr. Akhilesh Paul, one of Barse's disciples, and thus, the film will have substantial elements from Paul's life.

The matter was finally settled amicably and Kumar had withdrawn all allegations against the respondent parties in January last year.

Now, the filmmaker alleged that the suit was withdrawn on the basis of a settlement agreement that was founded upon misrepresentation and fraud.

However, the Rangareddy Court at Kukatpally in Telangana court refused to entertain the matter after concluding that the petitioner has suppressed material information and the multiplicity of cases pertaining to the matter at different courts. It therefore imposed Rs. 10 lakhs as costs and instructed the petitioner to make the payment towards PM's Covid Relief Fund.

Before the out of court settlement, the Trial Court had, on 17th September, 2020, restrained Super Casettes "from exhibiting or broadcasting the movie "JHUND" starring Respondent No. 12/ Defendant No. 12 [Amitabh Bachchan] in Hindi Language from all theatres in India as well as abroad till further orders". This was upheld by a Division Bench of the Telangana High Court on October 19.

Subsequently, the suit was withdrawn by Kumar, unconditionally.

The respondents alleged that a case has been pending against Nandi which was filed by Akhilesh Paul himself alleging termination of life agreement. It was at this juncture that the filmmaker approached the Rangareddy court for recall of the January 7 Order.

When the matter was pending adjudication at the Rangareddy court, the petitioner also filed a writ petition under Article 226 to restrain the release of 'Jhund'.

Citing the above, the respondent parties submitted that the filmmaker approached the court with unclean hands; he has actively suppressed material facts about the pending proceedings at the court, out of the court settlement amount duly received by the petitioner etc.

Senior Counsel L. Ravichandar instructed by Mr. Ameet Naik and Ms. Madhu Gadodia of Naik Naik & Co. argued that the petitioner opted to approach the court at the 11th hour as a blackmail action to prevent the release of 'Jhund'. They also submitted that the writ petition would not be maintainable since the issue involves a dispute between two private parties. The respondents also made another allegation that the filmmaker joined the Central Board of Film Certification only for making a scheme to bring the cause of action within the ambit of Article 226.

Case Title: Nandi Chini Kumar v. Super Casettes Industries Private Limited