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In a major escalation, Puja Entertainment (India) Ltd has filed a staggering Rs. 400 crore suit before Bombay High Court against Tips Industries Limited, Ramesh Taurani, Kumar S Taurani and filmmaker David Dhawan over the alleged unauthorised use and exploitation of iconic songs from the Vashu Bhagnani’s cult blockbuster ‘Biwi No.1’ in Varun Dhawan’s upcoming film ‘Hai Jawani Toh Ishq Hona Hai’.
The suit filed through Counsel V K Dubey Associates seeks urgent and sweeping injunctive relief restraining the release, distribution, exhibition, streaming and further commercial exploitation of the film and its promotional material containing the disputed songs, including “Chunnari Chunnari” and “Ishq Sona Hai”.
Speaking to ANI, Advocate Dubey shared, “We have filed a suit with a claim of Rs. 400 crores to the Tips Music Company. The legal battle has been increasing for many days, and the rights of the musicians were not ready to be settled.”
He further explained, “Earlier, the rights of movies were based on agreements. Today, the music companies buy the songs from the big producers or the lyricists who make the songs or create the songs. During that time, the agreements that were made with Tips allowed only audio rights in the agreements. In 2018, Tips had emailed us and asked for visual rights. Vashu Bhagnani had replied to them, but their conversation did not settle.”
He explained that a notice was served by Puja Entertainment, cancelling the rights given to Tips, ending even the audio permissions that they were previously granted.
“If they are the lawful owners of the music rights, they must show their documents. This is why we have filed a claim against Tips. Justice will prevail, and the truth will come out,” Dubey added.
According to a press release, Puja Entertainment has also sought directions for the removal of the songs ‘Chunnari Chunnari’ and ‘Ishq Sona Hai’ from the film and its promotional material, along with a demand for a change of the title ‘Hai Jawani Toh Ishq Hona Hai’.
The production house has further demanded an additional Rs 100 crore as damages in the event that Tips Industries Limited & David Dhawan fail to comply with the said demands and continue exploiting the disputed works.
Puja Entertainment (India) Ltd has further alleged that the defendants have unlawfully exploited valuable intellectual property rights despite allegedly having no authority, assignment or licence to commercially use the original audio-visual works.
The production house has contended that the alleged infringement strikes at the very foundation of proprietary and commercial rights vested in the original cinematographic works associated with the late 1990s blockbuster banner. (ANI)
