Abhinav Kashyap's big fall-out with the production house Viacom 18 has been widely talked about.
Their animosity grew to such levels that the director even walked out with his next project - Besharam - and landed a deal with Anil Ambani's film company. However, sources say that Viacom 18 has recently staked a claim to the film's title and has even registered an application to officially own it.
A source says, `Thanks to their differences over budgets and terms and conditions, Abhinav and Viacom parted ways. Ambani's production house is now producing this Ranbir Kapoor starrer. The first-look of the project is out and the title is all over the film's posters. `
In a twist to the tale, Viacom 18 has allegedly now applied for the title of the film at Association Of Motion Pictures and TV Programme Producers (AMPTPP).
The source adds, `The shoot started in December and the response to the first-look has been good. However in January, Viacom has applied for three titles for clearance - Besharams, Besharam and Besharmi. `
An insider from Ambani's company states, `As far as we know, Abhinav has the title. We have no clue why Viacom is registering the title. It is a known fact that Abhinav and Viacom had issues and their deal fell through. `
GP Pande, title executive of AMPTPP, says, `Yes, the title has come to us and we have put up a notice across trade magazines. We will wait for one week to know if anyone has any issue regarding it. Post that we will jointly decide if the title can be given to Viacom. `
Abhinav Kashyap and Viacom 18 remained unavailable for comment.