Asira Tarannum (MID-DAY; June 24, 2015)

An actor or actress ideally has no say in the release of a film, but it looks like Kangana Ranaut is out to prove a point. She had been upset with the makers of I Love NY makers for allegedly riding piggyback on her recent success and trying to release the stuck-in-the-cans project without her permission. Now the actress has taken legal recourse and slapped a notice on T-Series, which produced the film, asking them withdraw the release. A copy of the notice is in hitlist’s possession.

Her lawyer, Rizwan Siddiquee, says: “It is very unfortunate that without even informing my client, T-Series has unilaterally decided to theatrically release an old film starring my client amongst others. The film was originally abandoned by T-Series for almost six years, as it was not up to the mark and therefore, not commercially viable. It is obvious that T-Series is trying to cash in on the current situation for personal gains and therefore, in discharge of their moral duty they neither informed my client nor asked her to promote the said film.”

He goes on to say that Kangana had been assured that I Love NY, in which she was paired opposite Sunny Deol, will “never be released. Despite that, the act of belatedly and unilaterally releasing the film amounts to willful breach of trust. This would hamper the name and image of my client. In my notice, I have asked them to stop the release of the film, as was verbally assured to my client on numerous occasions.” The legal notice also states that the actress was neither paid for the project nor given a copy of the agreement.


The Other Side

T-Series boss Bhushan Kumar says he has no control over the film’s release as he sold the film rights nearly 18 months ago to Wave Cinemas. “No actor gives permission (for release) until and unless she is an Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) member of the film. As far as the payment is concerned, we are replying to her notice with a copy of the bank receipts because all the payments were made in cheque. If she doesn’t have the agreement copy or has misplaced it, she could have asked us for it. Without it, how does she know how much is pending?” he asks, while adding that Kangana was paid R10 lakh post the dubbing and her last payment has also been cleared.