SC allows release of Kunal Kohli film ‘Phir Se’ post compensation

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Monday brokered peace between two warring Bollywood production houses fighting over plagiarism and allowed filmmaker Kunal Kohli to release his film ‘Phir Se’ after asking him to fork out Rs 60 lakh as compensation to writer Jyoti Kapoor and a production house which had accused Kohli of lifting the concept and story from its film which is in the works.
A bench of Justices Dipak Misra and Prafulla C Pant said the parties, which indulged in creative field of art and culture, should desist from fighting and arrive at a settlement through negotiations.
Phir Se, a romantic film in which Kohli will also make his acting debut as the lead actor, got into a legal tangle with writer Jyoti Kapoor and India Stories Media and Entertainment Pvt Ltd filing a case against him and a producer at Bombay Film Company Pvt Ltd accusing them of lifting the story and script from their under production film R.S.V.P for which they had approached Saif Ali Khan and Ayushman Khurana.
Senior advocate Pratibha Maninder Singh, appearing for Kohli, refuted the allegations of plagiarism and said that the film had been completed and is set to be released shortly while the production of the film of other production house has not been initiated.
Senior advocate Shyam Divan, appearing for the writer, agreed to come to a settlement and told the court that she will withdraw the case if Rs 25 lakh is paid to her but the production house, India Stories Media and Entertainment, insisted on pursuing its case against Kohli.
Senior advocate Amit Sibal said the company had been working on the film for the last two and half years and spent over Rs 2 crore. The bench, however, was not convinced. “I also have an idea of film production and not every movie takes such long time,” Justice Misra said while persuading the parties to come to a mutually agreed settlement.
The bench made it clear to Sibal that it would not stay the release of the film and if his client was not agreeable to a compromise, it could pursue its case for compensation before the Bombay HC where the matter was pending. It asked the production house to accept Rs 35 lakh as compensation.
The company accepted the proposal. The bench then directed Kohli, who was present in the court, to pay Rs 25 lakh to Kapoor and Rs 35 lakh to India Stories Media and Entertainment Pvt Ltd. It also directed Kohi to give credit as a writer to Kapoor in his film.