Sahir-Amrita love story in legal tangle 
Ankur Pathak (MUMBAI MIRROR; August 5, 2014)


Theirs was not an easy romance and now the film inspired by the love story of legendary poets, Sahir Ludhianvi and Amrita Pritam, too has hit a roadblock even before it goes on floors.

The late Amrita Pritam's grandson, Aman Kwatra, has sent a legal notice to Ashi Dua, the film's producer, and to its director Jasmeet Reen.

Other than demanding that they restrain from making the film, the notice (of which Mirror has a copy) also seeks to prevent Dua and Reen from using the books written by Pritam as source material.

Additionally, Kwatra has demanded Rs 1 crore for "violation and infringement of copyrights" and "damage caused to Pritam's reputation, dignity and goodwill".

The notice mentions that the makers of the film made several attempts to contact Kwatra in a bid to acquire the rights of Pritam's autobiography from him, but he declined.

On September 16, 2013, the duo finally convinced Kwatra to meet them in Mumbai for a story narration, which was once again "defiantly disapproved" by him.

Now, Dua has been given a fortnight to respond to the legal notice and provide an unconditional apology for "causing substantial damage to the reputation of Amrita Pritam."

Reacting on the same, Dua told Mirror, "I've never claimed that I'm making a film on the lives of Amrita Pritam and Sahir Ludhianvi. What I am making is a period romance between two poets and I, as a filmmaker, have all the rights to do it."

Asked about the legal notice, Ashi said that she is yet to go through it. "I've been out of town and haven't got a chance to read it. After consulting my lawyers, I will send them a fitting reply."

Meanwhile, Kwatra told Mirror that instead of the rights to Pritam's autobiography, which would be the primary source for the movie, the family offered the producers rights to other stories authored by Pritam.

"But they weren't interested in other stories," he says. "My grandmother would have not appreciated the dramatisation of her life, which is why I've opposed it. A legal notice was sent to them in this regard brgotr, to which they didn't bother to respond."
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Hiren Kotwani (BOMBAY TIMES; August 5, 2014)

Reports have been rife about Irrfan playing Sahir Ludhianvi in a biopic on the late poet-writer, but the project seems to have been caught in a legal wrangle. Reason: The family of Amrita Pritam, with whom Ludhianvi was in a long-term relationship (she has chronicled it in her autobiography, Raseedi Ticket), has raised objections against `fictionalising her life'.

Her grandchildren Aman and Shilpi Kwatra have sent legal notices to Jasmeet Reen and Ashi Dua, the director and producer respectively , of the biopic. Says Aman, “Ashi and Jasmeet had approached us last year for a biopic on my grandmother. While reports say they are making a biopic on Sahir Ludhianvi, the film is based on the relationship my grandmother shared with him. Their movie uses references extensively from her autobiography. We declined because our grandmother never wanted any commercial movie to be made on her life. She had consistently refused to give the rights of her autobiography to anyone."

Aman says they had sent notices to Ashi and Jasmeet on November 30, last year, but didn't receive any response. After recent reports, they sent another notice on August 2. Ashi said “We have all the ethical and technical permission for the film we are making."

Amrita Pritam (August 31, 1919 -October 31, 2005) was a writer and poet who wrote in Punjabi and Hindi. Her novel Pinjar was made into a film starring Urmila Matondkar and Manoj Bajpayee. It won the National Award for Best Film on National Integration She married Pritam Singh in 1935 and they separated in 1960. She's reported to have been in a long relationship with Sahir Ludhianvi. After Sudha entered his life, Amrita found solace in the companionship of renowned artist and writer, Imroz.

Sahir Ludhianvi (March 8, 1921 -October 25, 1980) was born as Abul Hayee. A popular Urdu poet and Hindi lyricist, he penned songs for films like Pyaasa, Dhool Ka Phool, Daag and Kabhi Kabhie among many others.

He was awarded the Padma Shri in 1971. He remained a bachelor after two failed affairs with Amrita Pritam and singer/actress Sudha Malhotra. The Government of India honoured him with a commemorative stamp on his 92th birth anniversary in 2013.

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Shubha Shetty-Saha (MID-DAY; August 5, 2014)

In May last year, producer Ashi Dua and director Jasmeet Reen approached the celebrated poetess Amrita Pritam’s partner Imroze and her grandson Aman Kwatra to take permission to replay her life story on celluloid. For the uninitiated, Amrita Pritam had a tumultuous love relationship with well-known poet and lyricist, Sahir Ludhianvi; she has even spoken about this relationship in her autobiography.

However, Amrita Pritam’s family members were not happy about this love story being made into a film and they turned down the proposal. Aman, along with his sister Shilpi, met the filmmakers, but refused to give permission for the film, as they wanted to respect their grandmother’s wish of not turning her story into a movie.

So when the filmmakers went ahead and announced the project, Pritam’s family was aghast. In November, they sent legal notices to the producer and director to stop them from making the film; they didn’t get any reply. But now that Irrfan has been signed on to play Ludhianvi’s role and Priyanka Chopra is slated to play Pritam, her family has once again sent a legal notice to the makers.

Aman Kwatra says that the family is disturbed by it all. “My grandma led a simple life. She didn’t want any commercial film to be made on her life. We are disheartened that Dua is going ahead without our permission. We hold the rights to her autobiography too. How can they go ahead then? Imrozji is hurt by this. We don’t want her life to be commercialised; we want her life to be seen through the beauty of her own writing. Since Sahirji had no children, I guess there is no one to object from his side, but we will continue the fight,” he says.