Ayushmann Khurrana's next is Bala, a film directed by Amar Kaushik of Stree, co-starring Bhumi Pednekar and Yami Gautam. The film is touted to be a satirical comedy about premature balding and the recently released teaser amped up the excitement levels among the audience. However, to everyone's dismay, Bala has found itself in legal trouble as National Award-winning director Praveen Morchhale, whose directorial Walking with the Wind bagged three National Awards in 2017, has filed a case against Maddock Films and writer Niren Bhatt in the Bombay High Court under the Copyright Act 1957 on August 28. In his case, he has alleged, "I read a news article on Bala being a satirical comedy about premature balding, which was an idea I had conceived in 2005. I worked on it for two years and registered the story with the Film Writers’ Association (FWA) in 2007. After compiling information from various sources, I have arrived at the conclusion that Bala is very similar to my story and screenplay,” as reported by a leading daily.
Admitting that he hadn’t met the makers of Bala for a narration, Praveen explained, “But the case isn’t about meeting or narrating the film to them. I’ve met hundreds of people and narrated my story to them, anyone could have put the idea in their minds. Since I have registered my concept and script, I can narrate it to as many people as I want, nobody can copy it," adding that he isn’t doing this for publicity or money. “If my idea or screenplay has been borrowed, completely or even partly, they will be liable to injunction from the court. This case is filed to make a statement that you cannot just take off on somebody’s copyrighted idea or screenplay," he further asserted.
It's time to make some bold, oops bald moves!https://t.co/4hfppYFRJz #BalaTeaser#DineshVijan @amarkaushik @bhumipednekar @yamigautam @jaavedjaaferi @saurabhshukla_s #SeemaPahwa @nowitsabhi @MaddockFilms @JioCinema pic.twitter.com/EAa0GWRK3P
— Ayushmann Khurrana (@ayushmannk) August 26, 2019
Meanwhile, Maddock Films have denied any such allegations. “Maddock is not aware of any case being filed against it by Mr Morchhale and denies that he has anything to do with its film Bala. Nobody from Maddock has ever met with Mr Morchhale or is even aware of him being associated with a story of a bald man,” read an official statement from the production house.
Bala is scheduled to release on November 22, 2019.
(Source: Mumbai Mirror)
