Cries foul as court gives judgement in favour of producer of Tanu Weds Manu

After months of legal pursuit, Vinod Bachchan who claims to own 51 per cent stake in Tanu Weds Manu, has got a favourable court order against his production partner Sailesh Singh and others associated with the film.

The court has also instructed the Oshiwara police station to register an FIR against distributor Sunil Bohra, who was given the contract to sell the India theatrical rights. Bohra, however, accuses the producer of harassing him.

Pleased with the order of the 22nd Andheri Metropolitan Court, where he had initiated criminal proceedings against Bohra, Viacom 18 and others last September, Bachchan stated, "The cops refused to lodge the FIR so I had to fight in court for what's lawfully mine."

How it all began

Bachchan recounts, "Bohra claimed to be the producer of the film and sold overseas, satellite, music, direct-to-home, home video to Viacom 18.

After I pointed out that I'm the producer of the film, holding 51 per cent sake, with Sailesh Singh, who owned 49 per cent, Sunil got another agreement made on the same stamp paper stating that his and Sailesh's company were the producers."

Bachchan adds, "I'm surprised that a company like Viacom 18 bought the rights from Bohra without verifying his claim. And even after I put out a public notice stating Bohra's role, T-Series acquired the music rights and Zee acquired the satellite rights."

In defence

On his part, Bohra maintained that he had never claimed to be the producer of the film. "Neither in the film's credits nor any publicity material does my name figure as the producer. So Vinod Bachchan's allegations are baseless. These are his ways of harassing me."

He adds, "In fact, Vinod Bachchan sold the rights to me and then sold it to someone else."

Reiterating that he had done nothing wrong, Bohra said, "I had put an advertisement in the trade magazines stating that my company didn't have the remake, prequel or sequel rights, nor had my company transferred them to any person or company.

And those rights are with the original owners only. The film was stuck for a couple of years and I was helping them sell the rights."

Meanwhile, co-producer Shailesh Singh says, " I'm also the producer; so I don't know how I'm being made a party in this case. I'm not aware of this development. I'll consult my lawyers first."