The trailer of the Sushant Singh Rajput-Kriti Sanon-starrer Raabta shows a glimpse of him as a barbarian, slashing his enemies with some crafty swordplay. Behind the scenes too, the film, directed by Dinesh Vijan, who is also producing it along with Bhushan Kumar, saw a high-voltage drama unravel. Barely two weeks before the release of the film, the makers of the Telugu blockbuster, Magadheera, filed a case against the makers of the Hindi film, alleging that it is a remake of their movie, and hence, its release should be stayed.

Interestingly, the makers of Raabta volunteered to show the film to the complainants, but we hear that the latter refused. Raabta makers also offered to put the compensation being demanded into an escrow account with the court. If the court decided their film was a copy, makers of Magadheera could take the amount, but they refused that as well.

A source says that the Magadheera team wanted a stay on the release of Raabta probably because their Hindi remake rights have already been sold and they feared that this film's release would jeopardise its fate. After several days of arguments in the court, the Magadheera makers withdrew the case on Thursday.

Raabta, presented by T-Series and Maddock Films, releases today.
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Bharati Dubey (MID-DAY; June 9, 2017)

Makers of the Sushant Singh Rajput and Kriti Sanon-starrer, Raabta, heaved a sigh of relief last morning after a plagiarism case lodged against them at a Hyderabad court was withdrawn ahead of the hearing.

The makers were dragged to court by 2009 Telugu blockbuster Magadheera’s producers, who approached the City Civil Court in Hyderabad to seek an injunction on the film’s release tomorrow. The demanded stay was rejected this morning and the film will release today as initially scheduled.

Producer Bhushan Kumar was evidently ecstatic when mid-day contacted him. “We had always maintained that our film is not a copy of any other. We had submitted the script to them [Magadheera’s producers] so they know what are our film was all about. Truth always wins, and that is what has happened in our case too. We are releasing the film today.”

Debutante director Dinesh Vijan had approached the makers to watch the film, but claims they didn’t heed his request. “ They withdrew the case [before the scheduled hearing],” he said.

Magadheera’s producers had alleged Raabta had copied the theme of reincarnation, which was the crux of their film too.