A few days after it kicked off, NDTV Prime's show, 'Ticket to Bollywood', has found itself mired in a title dispute. Producer Sahil Khan of SK Sahil Khan Entertainment claims that the show's title was first registered by him.
`I had approached the Western India Film Producers' Association (WIFPA) for the title and I was then directed to Indian Motion Pictures' Producers Association (IMPPA) for the same. I planned to make a reality show called 'Ticket to Bollywood' and we had even started auditioning for it.`
His co-producer, Roshan 'Vansh' Pathak, says that they had the title registered on September 9, 2013. `We got a receipt for the same from the Western India Film Producers' Association on March 25, 2014,` he says. However, soon after, Khan saw a hoarding of NDTV Prime's show and he immediately called IMPPA. Thereafter, Film Makers Combine (FMC) advised Khan to change the show's name. Adds Khan, `I told them that we had registered way the title back in September and that they should have informed us earlier. They then replied that the matter would be taken up in a meeting and we would be intimated about it. However, this too didn't happen. We have now sent a legal notice to both IMPPA as well as NDTV.`
TP Agarwal, President of IMPPA, says, `We have not given the title to the producers of the NDTV show. If they fail to change the title, we will take action against them.`
Anoop Singh, legal consultant for NDTV, says, `It seems to be an afterthought. We registered the show title with the registry of trademarks and we started publicising the show a month before it went on air.`