After author Amish Tripathi shut down speculation earlier this month about actor Ranveer Singh playing Lord Shiva in a film adaptation of The Immortals Of Meluha, rumours of another project based on the bestselling novel began doing the rounds. Reports claimed that director-screenwriter Suparn S Varma has been researching the project for the past two years. However, when contacted, Suparn clarifies that he is not involved in any new film adaptation of the book. “I wish I was. I would love to be, but no,” he shares.

The 51-year-old adds, “I had worked on it earlier when Roy Price (US producer and former Amazon executive) had taken the rights. It is one of my most beloved projects. But it didn’t transpire then. I think the rights have gone back to Amish.”

We also reached out to Amish, who says reports of any movie deal being signed for the Shiva Trilogy “isn’t true at all”. “Lots of deals have happened earlier but nothing has been made as yet, ” he says, adding, “Quality is more important than speed. I don’t mind it if it takes time.”

In early October, late Shah Bano’s daughter Siddiqua Begum sent a legal notice to the makers of Haq, alleging that the film was based on her mother’s case and made without her consent. When mid-day sat down with director Suparn S Varma, he insisted that the upcoming Yami Gautam Dhar and Emraan Hashmi-starrer isn’t an adaptation of the landmark Supreme Court case, but a fictionalized work inspired by multiple cases.

“Our legal teams are talking directly to theirs. So, I’m not in a position to talk about it.
But I can say this: once the world sees the film, they will walk out with tears, love, and respect,” began the director.

In the November 7 release, Gautam plays a Muslim woman, who takes the legal route when her husband refuses to pay the monthly maintenance. Varma’s journalistic roots brought the story to him. “Being an ex-journalist, I’ve read up a lot, whether it’s hijacking cases or court [cases]. Haq is inspired by a landmark Supreme Court ruling and the first case taught in law schools.”

With Haq, his idea was to spotlight women’s rights. The director counts it among his most special projects alongside his production Sirf Ek Bandaa Kaafi Hai (2023), and The Family Man 2 (2021).

“We never talk about feminism from an intersectional perspective. Haq asks difficult questions about religion, women’s rights, and identity. The story begins in the 1970s, which was a more orthodox time. What was normalized then isn’t normal today. But [even today] women are fighting the same battles against bias, gaslighting, and a system built by men. If men had periods, the amount of money spent on research to make their life simpler would have been enormous. That’s the world we live in.”

To do justice to the story that revolves around a Muslim family in the 1970s, Varma dove deep into a different world. “Reshu [Nath, writer] and I spent over two years researching, talking to Islamic experts and clerics, and going through case files. We didn’t want a single false note. When I’m making something about a world I’m not part of, I want to be as true as possible,” he emphasized.

He found the perfect collaborators in Gautam and Hashmi. “Yami’s character quotes the Quran, so she spent time learning Arabic. You needed two actors at the top of their game, and Emraan and Yami delivered in spades.”

Yami Gautam Dhar and Emraan Hashmi’s upcoming film Haq, a dramatised retelling of the landmark ­­Shah Bano case, has landed in legal trouble just ahead of its release.

Siddiqua Begum, daughter and legal heir of the late Shah Bano, has issued a legal notice (a copy of which is with HT City) to the Central Board of Film Certification, director Suparn S Varma, Junglee Pictures and Baweja Studios, citing multiple violations and demanding certification be withheld or revoked.

In the notice, Siddiqua alleges that Haq represents an unauthorised use, distortion, and commercialisation of Shah Bano’s private life, infringing on her mother’s rights to dignity and privacy. She has framed her claims under Article 21 (right to privacy and dignity), defamation, personality/publicity rights, and copyright/moral rights under Sections 57 and 63 of the Copyright Act, 1957.

The film, which features Yami in the lead role and Emraan as her husband, was filmed in parts of Lucknow, including Kakori and Sandila, and is said to revisit the 1985 Supreme Court verdict. In 1978, Shah Bano, a Muslim woman, was divorced through triple talaq by her husband and later filed for maintenance under Section 125 of the Criminal Procedure Code.

The Supreme Court ruled in her favour in 1985, affirming that Muslim women could claim maintenance beyond the iddat period, a decision that stirred political backlash and led to the enactment of the Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Divorce) Act, 1986, which diluted the verdict’s reach.

As of now, the film’s makers have not responded publicly to the legal notice.

Actors Yami Gautam and Emraan Hashmi are all set to headline a courtroom drama inspired by the landmark 1985 Shah Bano vs Ahmed Khan case. HT City has exclusively learnt that Yami, who will play Shah Bano, and Emraan, whose role is inspired by her ex-husband, Ahmed Khan, have wrapped up the film’s shoot.

The movie is the second instalment in filmmaker Suparn S Varma’s courtroom trilogy. The first was Manoj Bajpayee’s Sirf Ek Bandaa Kaafi Hai (2023).

Today, on the 40th anniversary of the Supreme Court verdict in the case, which upheld the right of Muslim women to claim maintenance after divorce.

A source close to the project tells us, “Yami and Emraan have finished their shooting schedule. A lot of research has gone into the script to ensure authenticity, and the film has several long and intense courtroom scenes.”

The movie has been shot in parts of Lucknow, including Kakori, and other locations across Uttar Pradesh such as Sandila.

“The filmmakers are eyeing a global release around October or November this year,” says the source.