Natasha Coutinho (MUMBAI MIRROR; December 24, 2016)

A popular shoe brand has sent a legal notice to the Jolly LLB 2 team for defamation and commercial disparagement after the brand was run down in a dialogue in the film’s trailer for its cheap quality products. In the notice, the company has stated that the dialogue is a deliberate attempt to tarnish the image of the brand, perhaps on the instigation of its competitors considering the film’s leading man, Akshay Kumar, is the face of the rival brand.

The notice further states that the film’s team should immediately pull down the trailer with that dialogue from all online sites and theatres. It has also demanded a written apology for using the company’s trademark and tarnishing their reputation as also an undertaking that the brand shall not be tarnished further. They also want a notice in the trailer and the film stating that the brand was mentioned erroneously. The notice has been sent to the production house, Fox Star Studios India, along with executive producer Naren Kumar, company directors Deepak Jacob and Amit Shah, writer- director Subhash Kapoor and actors Akshay Kumar and Annu Kapoor.

Subhash Kapoor confirmed receiving the notice, and said, “The producers will talk about it, I’m not authorised to.” The spokesperson for Fox Star Studios India however did not respond to our texts.

Akshay had left town and Annu Kapoor’s assistant claimed the actor is unaware of the notice.
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Shoe company slaps legal notice for dialogue in Akshay Kumar’s film that disparages their product chaanta from
MID-DAY (December 24, 2016)

Legal firm Kochhar & Co. has shot off a legal notice to the makers of Jolly LLB 2, the sequel to the popular Boman Irani-Arshad Warsi courtroom drama (2013), on behalf of global footwear brand Bata.

The brand has asked the makers to apologize for an allegedly disparaging comment made against it by a protagonist in the film’s trailer that released recently.

The scene features lawyers Annu Kapoor and Akshay Kumar. Annu’s character is slapped by Akshay’s for the comment: “Varna Kya…. BATA ka joota pehan kar, tuchhi si terricot ki shirt pehan kar, saala humse zabaan lada rahe hain”. The dialogue is accompanied by English subtitles that read: “Who are you to argue with me in your cheap shoes and shabby clothes”. Partner at Kochhar & Co., Neeraj Grover’s petition says the trailer, which released on December 19 and is being viewed widely online, is damaging to Bata’s image.

The petition reads: The footwear and other accessories of Our Client are worn by the who’s who of the country and patronised by well known personalities… the dialogue is intended to convey that the brand Bata is adorned only by the lower strata of society and one should feel humiliated if one wears Bata footwear.” They have asked Fox Star Studios India Pvt Ltd, director Subhash Kapoor and actors Annu Kapoor and Akshay Kumar to pull down the trailer and issue an apology in mainstream media.

Grover told hitlist, “Bata has taken this derogatory remark very seriously and shall pursue all legal remedies. The impunged dialogue has caused immense damage to the goodwill of Bata and lowered its image.’’

Repeated attempts to get a comment from the film’s makers were met with no response. Jolly LLB 2 was the story of a simpleton lawyer with the track record of attracting legal notices, earlier played by Arshad, now Akshay.

Interestingly, the first film was also embroiled in controversy and was served three legal notices for allegedly ridiculing Meerut Law College, where the protagonist had earned his LLB degree.