Bombay High Court refuses to stay release of Hindi film Dream Girl 2

The Bombay High Court on August 22 refused to stay the release of the Hindi film Dream Girl 2 in a copyright infringement suit filed against it by an individual. .The Ayushmann Khurrana starrer film is slated to be released on Friday.Single-judge Justice RI Chagla ruled that films should not be prevented from release at the eleventh hour."The interim application has only been filed on 18th August, 2023. The Respondents have not had an opportunity to reply to the interim application. It is well settled that at the eleventh hour, films should not be prevented from their release. An opportunity is required to be given to the Respondent / Defendant to file their reply to the interim application," the Court held in a 3-page order..The copyright suit was filed by one Ashim Bagchi who claimed that the story of the film is similar to a script that he had registered with the Film Screen Writers Association in May 2007. He added that after a minor alteration in the title of the script, he re-registered his script. After watching the trailer of Dream Girl 2 on August 1, Bagchi claimed to have discovered several similarities in the plot and depiction of characters. He issued a cease and desist notice to the production company Balaji Telefilms which also included the directors Ekta Kapoor and Shobha Kapoor. When there was no response to the notice, Bagchi approached the High Court with a commercial suit on August 18. He prayed for an order granting a stay on the release of the film till the copyright suit is finally heard. .Justice Chagla heard all parties including writers of the film Raaj Shaandilyaa of Think Ink Picturez Ltd and Naresh Kathooria.He granted time to the respondents to file their replies to the application and posted the matter for final hearing on August 30. He, however, refused to grant any stay on the release of the film..Advocates Yatin Kochare, Aniketh Poojari and Suresh Poojari briefed by Legal House appeared for Bagchi.Advocates Rashmin Khandekar, Rahul Dhote, Anushree Rauta, Shwetank Tripathi, Vidit Desai, Umang Sheth and Radhika Mehta briefed by ANM Global appeared for Balaji Telefilms.Advocates Ankit Lohia and Kunal Parekh briefed by Dua Associates appeared for Shaandilyaa.Advocates Anand Mohan, Arohi Gursale, Sunil Zalmi, Shivani Talati briefed by MZD Legal Consultancy appeared for Kathooria.[Read Order]