An Imam from Srinagar has threatened to take Vishal Bharadwaj to court over the use of footage featuring him in the Shahid Kapoor-Tabu starrer Haider.

The film was shot in Kashmir and Ghulam Hassan Shah of Kund has claimed that he has been featured in the scene which depicts the nikah ceremony of Tabu and Kay Kay Menon.

Four months after the film's release, Shah has sent a legal notice to the director claiming that he was tricked into becoming part of the film.“I was told that the footage featuring me will be used for educational purposes but it was used in the film instead,“ said Shah.

Shah, the Imam of a mosque in Srinagar claims that he has lost his job for solemnising the marriage of Tabu and Kay Kay in the film. He is now demanding 50 lakh rupees in compensation or an apology in national press for “defaming“ him in the movie.

In the legal notice, of which Mirror has a copy, Shah's lawyer Firdaus Ahmed Bhat states, “You induced my client to get screened while conducting a Nikah on the assurance that it will be used for educational purposes but you intended to utilise the footage in your movie Haider which to say the least is obnoxious...“

“The footage has not defamed my client and lowered his dignity, status and respect among members of the society,“ the notice adds.

The film, an adaptation of William Shakespeare's Hamlet, set amidst the insurgency-hit Kashmir of 1995, won rave reviews.Neither Vishal Bhardwaj nor the film's co-producer UTV wished not to comment.