After US-based director alleges Mission Mangal borrows from her screenplay, producer Balki says real-life incident can have several interpretations, asserts Vidya-starrer is an "original" narrative
Mohar Basu (MID-DAY; November 23, 2018)

A day after US-based filmmaker Radha Bharadwaj moved the Mumbai High Court to stall the production of Mission Mangal, the film's producer and writer R Balki has rushed to the defense of his ambitious space drama that revolves around India's 2014 Mangalyaan Mars Mission. In a report published by mid-day yesterday, Bharadwaj alleged that the film - featuring Akshay Kumar and Vidya Balan, among others - infringed on the copyright of her original screenplay that she had shared with Atul Kasbekar in 2016.

Pointing out that the mission was in the public eye and hence, could have piqued several filmmakers' interest, Balki insists that he and director Jagan Shakti created an "original screenplay" based on the information that was available in the public domain. "There are always many claimants when it comes to a film based on a real-life incident. I am sure many scripts have been written on the Mars Mission. But ours is an original screenplay. We have taken the core of the story and added fictional characters to make it an interesting screenplay. Only ISRO can claim rights to the core story. I urge Radha to come to my office and read our script. I am certain she will find it refreshing. She hasn't even read it, so how can she make such claims?"

In her account, Bharadwaj said that she had shared the original screenplay with Kasbekar in 2016, in the hope of finding financing for the film. In violation of their NDA, Kasbekar's team had apparently shared the script with Balan - one of their clients - and had confirmed that the actor had read it.

But Balki insists that Shakti has been working on the story since 2015. "Jagan has been living with this vision for three years. I have been helping him in developing the screenplay. People can be upset with their interpretation of a story not being executed, but it is silly to try and stop another interpretation that 'is' being executed."

Quiz him on Bharadwaj's allegations that Kasbekar's team had negotiated Balan's deal for Mission Mangal, and the filmmaker says, "Atul Kasbekar does not know of this film. Jagan and I met Vidya personally, and not through Atul. I don't even know if Atul handles her account. Neither were we aware of who else had approached Vidya with stories on Mangalyaan." On her part, Bharadwaj recently completed the shoot of her directorial, Space MOMs, which is based on the same subject.
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Hiren Kotwani (DNA; November 23, 2018)

US-based filmmaker Radha Bharadwaj has filed a lawsuit alleging Mission Mangal, which is being produced by R Balki as well as Akshay Kumar and directed by Jagan Shakti, which is based on the screenplay of her venture, titled Space MOMs. Mission Mangal is inspired by the women scientists who worked on India’s 2014 Mars Orbiter Mission aka MOM. The cast comprises Akshay Kumar, Vidya Balan, Sonakshi Sinha and Taapsee Pannu among others.

Radha claims that she had registered her screenplay with the US Copyright Office in 2016, after the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) had notified her of its support for her movie and arranged for her to interview several of its engineers. Two years ago, she had begun talks with Atul Kasbekar’s company, Ellipsis Entertainment, to produce her movie. According to the filmmaker’s lawsuit, the production house claimed that they had shared the script with Vidya, who had read it. However, due to creative differences, Radha terminated her relationship with Ellipsis Entertainment and found funding for her film elsewhere.

She acknowledges that ‘the full details of the origin of this project were not known to Akshay Kumar, Fox Star (that is also backing Mission Mangal) or its US Parents’. But in her lawsuit, she alleges that Atul’s team violated the contract by sharing the script with Vidya, who is now a part of the cast of another film that is using her idea.

It also states that Atul’s team negotiated the deal for Balki’s film. Radha also claims that Mission Mangal is being rushed into production to jeopardise the commercial prospects of her project, Space MOMs.

“My film is a celebration of women, of India, and of India’s ancient heritage of scientific achievement and female empowerment,” says Radha, who was born and raised in Chennai. “It was conceived, written and directed by a woman. My film has a female producer and a female financier and executive producer. All of the lead actors are women. And now the Bollywood Boys Club, with its female enablers, wants to shove all these women aside and grab this project for a male producer, male director, and male star, all trying to show how supportive they are of women.” The lawsuit further alleges that even the publicity for Mission Mangal seems to be copied from that of Space MOMs, which was publicly announced on September 8, 2018.

However, Balki refutes Radha’s allegations. The filmmaker states, “Firstly, Atul Kasbekar does not even know of this project (Mission Mangal). And Jagan (director) and I met Vidya personally, not through him or anybody else. I don’t even know if Atul is her management person. We are not even aware who else had been approached with stories on Mangalyaan.”

Asserting that like every film based on a real-life incident, there are always many claimants, he adds, “I’m sure many scripts have been written on the Mars Orbiter Mission. But ours is an original screenplay that I have helped Jagan with. He has been living with this vision for three years! We have fictionalised a lot of characters to make it an interesting screenplay out of a core story that only ISRO can claim rights to. Nobody else. People can be upset with their interpretation of a story not being executed, but it is silly to try and stop another interpretation that is being executed.”

The PadMan director further says that Radha is welcome to read the script. He states, “She hasn’t even read it... how can she claim this? It’s very silly and wrong. Radha, please come over and read it. I’m sure you will find it fresh and refreshing.”

According to a well-placed industry source, “It’s wrong in every way to suggest that Atul’s team shared the idea with Balki. Why would one production house share a script that they weren’t making with another company? Most aspects of Mangalyaan mission are in the public domain. And anyone can come up with a script on any aspect.”

Reacting to Radha’s allegations, Tanuj Garg, Managing Partner, Ellipsis Entertainment, says, “Ellipsis is not connected with the film that is currently under production in any way. To allege that ‘we leaked the script is plain ridiculous, laughable and preposterous. In any event, the subject is in the public domain. We will take steps to defend us in accordance with the law.”