Eros Files ₹84 Crore Suit Against Aanand L Rai for projecting Tere Ishk Mein a ‘Spiritual Sequel’ to Raanjhanaa (Exclusive)

Eros International Media Ltd has approached the Bombay High Court accusing filmmaker Aanand L Rai and his Colour Yellow Media Entertainment LLP of illegally riding on the goodwill of its 2013 hit Raanjhanaa while promoting and releasing the 2025 film Tere Ishk Mein. In a commercial IP suit and a related interim application, Eros has alleged trademark infringement, copyright infringement, and passing off, claiming that Tere Ishk Mein was deliberately projected as a “spiritual sequel” to Raanjhanaa — without any permission

Eros is demanding ₹84 crores as compensation for the damages done by Rai.

Eros has named multiple parties in the suit — apart from Aanand L Rai and the Colour Yellow Media Entertainment LLP, the defendants also include Super Cassettes Industries (T-Series), writer Himanshu Sharma, and Netflix Entertainment Services India LLP, making it a multi-party copyright and trademark battle over Raanjhanaa and Tere Ishk Mein.




What is the case about?

According to the complaint, Eros says it is the producer and “exclusive owner of all intellectual property rights” in Raanjhanaa, including copyright, trademarks, characters, dialogues, and sequel and remake rights. The suit states: “The Plaintiff is the producer and exclusive owner of all intellectual property rights in the highly successful Hindi language film ‘Raanjhanaa’ including without limitation… copyright, registered trademark rights in ‘Raanjhanaa’, character rights including in ‘Kundan Shankar’ and ‘Murari’, and remake, prequel and sequel rights.”

Eros claims the defendants — Colour Yellow Media Entertainment LLP, Colour Yellow Productions, Aanand L Rai , and others — misused these rights to market Tere Ishk Mein, which was released on November 28, 2025.

'From the World of Raanjhanaa’

A major trigger for the lawsuit was the teaser of Tere Ishk Mein that appeared online in July 2025. Eros says it found that the teaser used phrases like “From the world of Raanjhanaa” and hashtags such as “#WorldOfRaanjhanaa”. The interim application notes: “The Defendants have made unauthorized use of the Applicant’s Rights / Applicant’s Film/brand/mark ‘Raanjhanaa’ for the promotion… of the Impugned Film titled ‘Tere Ishk Mein’.”

It further states that the teaser even used footage, background score, and music from Raanjhanaa, despite Eros not owning the music rights anymore.

Same Actor, Similar Characters

One of the strongest allegations is about the use of the same actor, Mohammed Zeeshan Ayyub, playing a very similar character in both films. The complaint says: “Murari, portrayed by Mohd. Zeeshan Ayyub, in both films, is a sharp-witted friend whose perspective adds conscience to the plot… The Respondents’ unauthorized reproduction and commercial exploitation of these characters… constitute a clear violation of the Applicant’s exclusive rights.”

Eros also claims that the lead character played by Dhanush in Tere Ishk Mein — named Shankar — mirrors Raanjhanaa’s Kundan Shankar, along with similar emotional arcs, dialogues , and themes.

Cease-and-Desist, Then Release Anyway

Eros says it issued a cease-and-desist notice on July 25, 2025, followed by reminders in September. Some references were briefly removed from promotional material, but the company alleges the film still carried strong similarities when it released. The complaint states: “Despite receiving explicit legal notices… the Defendants proceeded to release and exploit the Impugned Film on 28th November 2025 while persisting in wrongful acts.”

After watching the released film, Eros claims it found “extensive copyright and trademark infringement,” alleging that the film was repeatedly described and projected as a “spiritual sequel”.

We reached out to Rai and Eros for a comment, but did not get a response till the time we went to the press. Get the latest entertainment updates from the Times of India, along with the latest Hindi movies, upcoming Hindi movies in 2026 , and Telugu movies.”