After HC rejects his petition to stall Bala's release, aspiring filmmaker Kamal Kant Chandra to file fresh suit against makers demanding story credit
Sonil Dedhia (MID-DAY; November 9, 2019)

Ayushmann Khurrana's Bala may have opened to glowing reviews, but it will be a while before the makers can heave a sigh of relief. Shaadi Mein Zaroor Aana assistant director and aspiring filmmaker Kamal Kant Chandra — who had filed a case in April with the Bombay High Court against Khurrana, director Amar Kaushik and producer Dinesh Vijan, accusing them of lifting the central plot of a prematurely balding man from his project, Wig — has decided to fight the legal battle anew. On Thursday, the High Court rejected his petition to stall Bala's release, but instructed him to make amendments in his case and approach the court again.

Talking to mid-day, Chandra says, "On November 4, the Supreme Court disposed the case and directed the High Court to take up the matter as soon as possible. But the hearing was listed for Thursday, a day before the film's release. In their argument, the HC bench said that the film's rights have been sold by Dinesh Vijan [producer] to Jio Studios, who aren't the party defendant to the suit. So, the court, in the notice of motion passed, has given me the liberty to make amendments and file a suit again, marking Jio Studios as one of the parties."

It has been a six-month long legal battle between Chandra and the makers of the social comedy. Even as he gears up to file a fresh suit, Chandra claims that he seeks credit for the story of the Amar Kaushik-directed project and has little interest in monetary compensation. "I am confused why the judiciary [slated the hearing for the day] when the film was due for release. The bench asked me [if I wanted to] consider claiming monetary compensation. But that is not what I want. I will continue fighting until the truth comes out."

After Ujda Chaman director drags Bala makers to court, another aspiring filmmaker Chandra moves SC; seeks stay on the release of Ayushmann Khurrana-starrer citing plagiarism
Sonil Dedhia (MID-DAY; October 25, 2019)

Even as the makers are battling a legal dispute at the High Court with Ujda Chaman director Abhishek Pathak, Ayushmann Khurrana's Bala has hit another roadblock. Shaadi Mein Zaroor Aana's assistant director and aspiring filmmaker Kamal Kant Chandra has moved the Supreme Court seeking a stay on the movie's release, accusing Khurrana, director Amar Kaushik and producer Dinesh Vijan of lifting the central plot of a prematurely balding man from his project, Wig.

"After watching the trailer, I noticed many similarities between Bala and the concept I had narrated to Ayushmann in 2017. My request to the judiciary is that they watch the film, and if they find any resemblance to my script, I should be credited as a writer for the movie," says Chandra, who had filed a case against them in the Bombay High Court in April. He informs that the High Court hearing is scheduled for November 4, three days before the comedy is slated to hit theatres. Meanwhile, Pathak — who has filed a petition to stall the release of Bala citing copyright infringement — has advanced the release of Ujda Chaman to November 1.

mid-day reached out to Vijan's Maddock Films, who did not respond till the time of going to press.

Assistant director Kamal Kant Chandra, who had dragged Ayushmann and Bala makers to court for plagiarism, files police complaint after team kicks off shooting
Sonil Dedhia (MID-DAY; June 1, 2019)

Even as Ayushmann Khurrana shoots for the second schedule of Bala, Kamal Kant Chandra — an assistant director and aspiring filmmaker — has filed a criminal complaint under Section 420 (cheating) and 406 (breach of trust) against the actor and the makers at the Kashimira police station in Mira Road (mid-day is in possession of a copy of the complaint). This comes weeks after he had filed a case in the Bombay High Court against Khurrana, director Amar Kaushik and producer Dinesh Vijan, accusing them of lifting the central plot of a prematurely balding man from his project, Wig.

Chandra, who was the assistant director on Shaadi Mein Zaroor Aana, claims that in the last hearing on April 19, the lawyers representing the trio had falsely mentioned to the bench that the film is in the scripting stage. "It's wrong to start shooting before the court has given its verdict. At the last hearing, they said that they would take time to develop the script. How did they start shooting in 15 days? This means they gave a misleading picture to the court. I approached the vacation bench four days ago, but they stated that I should wait for the next hearing on June 10. But the makers might finish [a chunk of] the film by then and argue that since a lot of money is at stake, the court should rule in their favour."

Chandra adds that he has Whatsapp messages from Khurrana, dating back to 2017, when the actor had expressed interest in the film's idea. "I registered my concept with Screen Writers' Association in 2016 while their script has been registered in 2018." When mid-day reached out to Khurrana, his legal team said, "What has been communicated to you is a mala fide distortion of facts, specially with regard to the proceedings of April 9. Since the matter is sub-judice, we are not commenting any further. Our script is original, and we will show that to the court when the matter comes up." The spokesperson of Maddock Films added, "The court has neither granted relief to the plaintiff nor passed any order restraining us from going ahead with the movie."