Cine1 Studios moves Delhi High Court seeking stay on OTT release of Ranbir Kapoor-starrer Animal

Cine1 Studios, a production house claiming to be one of the producers of the Ranbir Kapoor starrer film Animal, has approached the Delhi High Court to stay the movie's release on Over-The-Top (OTT) platforms [Cine1 Studios Private Limited v Super Cassettes Industries Pvt Ltd & Ors]..Animal directed by director Sandeep Reddy Vanga was one of the highest-grossing movies of 2023. .Cine1 Studios Private Limited has filed a suit against Super Cassettes Industries Private Limited (T-Series) arguing that the two production houses entered into an agreement to produce the film. Under this agreement, Cine1 claimed that it had a 35 percent profit share and was entitled to 35 percent intellectual property rights in the movie Animal.The suit alleged that without Cine1’s approval, T-Series incurred expenses for making/ promoting/ releasing the film, received revenues at the box office sales without sharing any details of the same and did not pay any money to the plaintiff (Cine1) despite the profit-share agreement..Justice Sanjeev Narula heard the matter today..Senior Advocate Sandeep Sethi appeared for Cine1 and stated that Cine1 got no intimation about the revenues of the film, its collection at the box office, the music, satellite or internet rights. "They (T-Series) have been collecting all the money but I have not bee paid a single penny... I have a long relationship with them but they have no respect for the agreement. I had the regard for the relationship and the sanctity of the contract, therefore, I did not rush to court," Sethi contended. .Senior Advocate Amit Sibal appeared for T-Series and said that Cine1 has no skin in the game as it has not invested even one rupee in the film. He referred to an amendment dated August 2, 2022, made to the original contract by which Cine1 allegedly gave up all its intellectual property and derivative rights in the film and took ₹2.6 crores for it. "This amendment has been concealed. They got ₹2.6 crore. They have not put a pie in the movie and yet got ₹2.6 crores," Sibal stressed. .The Court examined the amendment and asked Sethi whether he had been briefed about this. Sethi replied in the negative. The Court also asked the briefing counsel whether he was aware of the document to which the briefing counsel said he was not. The Court then adjourned the case till Thursday to allow Sethi to obtain instructions regarding this amendment. Sethi further said that he would ensure that their client (Cine1 owner Murad Khetani) will be present in the court in person on Thursday. .In its suit, Cine1 argued that T Series did not provide Cine1 with a copy of the agreements it entered regarding the digital and satellite rights of the film with Netflix and Culver Max Entertainment (Sony Pictures) nor was any information given about the work tilted ‘Animal Park’, a derivative work of the movie ‘Animal.'The suit contended that as per the contract, T-Series had to ensure that Cine1 was given equal space in credits, promos, publicity and all advertising materials but the same was not done and even the certificate issued by the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) does not contain Cine1’s name.Cine1 also claimed that while T-Series entered into an agreement with Bhadrakali Pictures (Sandeep Reddy Vanga’s company), even that document was not shared with the plaintiff.“The Defendant No 1 (T-Series) is bent upon destroying the Plaintiffs rights in the film and its derivatives in a brazen manner. The Plaintiff is seeking preservation of the accounts of the Defendant No 1 because the revenue generated from the film will be delivered only to the Defendant No 1. The Defendant No 1 being a trustee of the profit share of the Plaintiff cannot be allowed to dissipate such receipts so as to defeat the Plaintiffs rights on the profit share of the film,” the plea stated..It, therefore, sought a stay on the release of the movie on OTT platforms till T-Series complies with the terms of the agreement with Cine1.This includes giving profit share, due credits, a certified final cost of production of the film, box office collections, agreements executed with Culver Max and Netflix as well as the agreement with Vanga..Senior Advocate Sandeep Sethi argued the case for Cine1. He was assisted by advocates Jaya Goyal, Gitika Agarwal, Parminder Singh, Arjun Agarwal, Kaushal Jeet Kait, Tejaswi Chaudary, Abhay Agnihotri, Daksh Gupta, Jatin Yadav, Gaurav Dua, Shreya Sethi and Sumer Seth. Senior Advocate Amit Sibal along with Advocates Harsh Kaushik, Sachin Akhoury and Arpit Srivastava appeared for Super Cassettes (T-Series).