The Hindi remake of Malayalam hit Drishyam 2 has got into considerable legal troubles. As per information shared by the legal website, Bar And Bench, Viacom 18, the owner of the rights to the film, is seeking permanent injunction against Panorama Studios from producing the Hindi remake of the sequel. It has moved the Bombay High Court on this regard, with a plea to hear its case as a matter of urgency.
In its plea under the case Viacom 18 Media Private Ltd v. Panorama Studios International Limited, Viacom 18 Media Pvt. Ltd. has cited its ownership of the rights to the film, and said that any remake in Hindi by Panorama Studios International Ltd. and Panorama Studios Pvt Ltd (Defendants) infringes the copyright of the company.
Viacom stated that it had been vested with exclusive rights to the Hindi version of the Drishyam franchise, and Panorama Studios was infringing its rights by launching the Hindi version of Drishyam 2.
Viacom moved an urgent application seeking interim relief on the matter. During the hearing, Panorama Studios International Ltd. and Panorama Studios Pvt Ltd committed that not only will they not begin the shooting of the film, but they will also not take up any pre-production work such as developing a script or screenplay for the film while the matter is in the Court.
The Court said in its order, “The statement is that the two Defendants will not themselves or through any other person with whom they may have a contract or arrangement, begin the shooting of the film in question, i.e. a sequel to the film Drishyam. The first version was in both Malayalam and Hindi and featured amongst others, the actors Ajay Devgn and Tabu. Mr Naik for the 2nd Defendant accepts that if the 1st and 2nd Defendants take up any preparatory work, such as developing a treatment, script, screenplay or dialogue, this will be at their own risk, and that they will not be entitled to claim any equities on that basis under any circumstances whatsoever. These statements are accepted as undertakings to the Court.”
Post the Bombay High Court order, production on the Hindi remake of Drishyam 2 has been stalled indefinitely.
Stay tuned to Binged.com for further updates on the Viacom 18 Media Private Ltd v. Panorama Studios International Limited case and what happens of the Drishyam 2 Hindi remake.