Haddi Film: Bombay High Court refuses interim relief to Nawazuddin Siddiqui in his plea against Zee for payment

The Bombay High Court Wednesday refused to grant relief to Bollywood actor Nawazuddin Siddiqui in his suit against Zee Studios seeking payment of his fees for donning the lead role in the film ‘Haddi’..Single judge Justice SM Modak found no urgency to pass any order until Zee Studios is granted an opportunity to file a reply to Siddiqui’s claims. “I do not find any pressing urgency to pass an order until proper opportunity is given to the respondent to reply. Ultimately if the court comes to the conclusion, the prayer to deposit money will be granted and they will comply,” the judge ordered. .Siddiqui claimed that he had signed an artist agreement with the movie's producer Anandita Studios and as per the same, he was to be paid ₹5 crores as fees/ consideration for acting in the movie. After this, Anandita Studios entered into an agreement with Zee Studios, and by virtue of this agreement, Zee became the sole and exclusive owner of all rights over the film. On August 15, 2023, Siddiqui sent a reminder to Anandita Studios to make a payment of ₹5,07,00,826 to him failing which he will approach the High Court.Anandita replied to the same, claiming that out of the total consideration, ₹4.5 crores have been paid to him. As for the remaining ₹50 lakh, ₹25 lakh will be paid when marketing of the film commences and the remaining ₹25 lakh will be paid once the movie is released.The company also expressed that it was unclear how Siddiqui came to the amount of ₹5,07,14,000 an over-due amount of the agreement. .In a physical meeting held after this email exchange, Siddiqui explained that he had blocked 32 additional days for shotting of Haddi over and above what was required under the contract for which he was demanding additional ₹5.07 crores. With no response from Anandita, Siddiqui approached the High Court.He sought a direction to Zee Studios to deposit all amounts as per the agreement..Advocate Hiren Kamod, appearing for Zee Studios, argued that ₹4.5 crores was paid to Siddiqui and the payment schedule as regards the remaining amount was informed to him and he had agreed to the same. He rejected the claim of Siddiqui’s lawyer that an additional amount of over ₹5 crores was pending. He also requested the Court for time to respond to the arguments in the interim application. He stated that there was no urgency to hear the matter right away. Further, it was argued that the release of the film had no connection to the payment to the artist..The Court agreed with these submissions and directed Zee to file its reply.It posted the matter for hearing after 4 weeks. .Kamod was briefed by advocates Ravindra Suryawanshi, Tanvi Nandgaonkar, Krunal Mehta and Archis Bhatt briefed by Bar & Brief Attorneys for Zee Studios.