Telangana High Court Orders Status Quo On Release Of Amitabh Bachchan-Starrer 'Jhund' On OTT Platform

The Telangana High Court on Friday ordered status quo on a plea by Hyderabad-based filmmaker Nandi Chinni Kumar, seeking a stay on the release of Amitabh Bachchan-starrer 'Jhund' on the OTT platform.

A single bench of Justice P. Sri Sudha directed,

"Let the status quo be maintained by both the parties till the next hearing of the matter i.e. 8th June,2022."

The Court has directed the respondents to file a reply to the petitioner's application seeking temporary injunction. 

A local court in Telangana had dismissed a petition filed by Nandi Chini Kumar, seeking withdrawal of the settlement order issued last year and a stay on the film's release citing breach of agreement by the filmmakers.

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

Since the trial court had reserved its orders and the film was scheduled to release on March 4, the petitioner had approached the High Court seeking a stay on the release of the film.

The High Court had dismissed Nandi's plea seeking to withdraw the January 2021 order seeking damages from the producers of the film Super Cassettes (T-Series) in the civil suit filed by him before the court. The settlement was recorded and along with this, a fine of Rs 10 lakh was imposed on him.

The court was told that a settlement has already been reached between the producers of the film and Kumar. As part of this, Rs 5 crore was paid to Kumar.

Kumar filed a review petition challenging the order of the Division Bench of the High Court and the same is pending.

Background

Filmmaker Nandi Chinni Kumar had accused the film of copyright infringement two years ago. Jhund film was scheduled to be released on the OTT platform last year, but after the matter came to light, the Supreme Court had stayed its release.

In the year 2021, there was an agreement between the two parties for Rs 1.3 crore, but Nandi Kumar recently said that this agreement was done fraudulently.

The film 'Jhund' is based on the life of a social activist, founder of 'Slum Soccer Foundation' and football coach Vijay Barse.

Vijay Barse was the coach of Akhilesh Paul and he also trained Paul, who is an important part of his story. The story of Vijay is not possible without Akhilesh.

Nandi Chinni had bought the rights in 2017 to make a film on the story of Akhilesh Paul in his name. When he came to know that a Bollywood film is being made on Vijay Barse, he raised his voice against it.

Before the Court, Nandi submitted that director Nagraj Manjule and the producers bought the rights to make a film on Vijay Barse's life, 'Jhund' also featuring Akhilesh Paul's story in a lead role, thus allegedly infringing copyright.

Advocate V Satyanarayana Prasad appeared for the petitioner and Rushik Reddy appeared for the respondent.