HC restrains ‘Chhapaak’ makers from screening film without credit to lawyer
| Date :12-Jan-2020 |
NEW DELHI :
THE Delhi High Court on Saturday restrained the makers of Deepika Padukone-starrer ‘Chhapaak’ from screening the film without giving credit to the lawyer, who represented acid attack survivor Laxmi Agarwal on whose life the movie is based, for inputs she shared with them.
The court directed film director Meghna Gulzar and producer Fox Star Studios to acknowledge advocate Aparna Bhat in the opening credits by including the line -- “Inputs by Ms. Aparna Bhat, the lawyer who represented Laxmi Agarwal, are acknowledged”. For theatres where digital copies are provided, the condition will come into effect from January 15, and where physical copies are supplied, the changes shall be carried out with effect from January 18. “The defendants are restrained from releasing the film ‘Chhapaak’ on any electronic medium/s such as cable television, home viewing, DTH platforms, internet entertainment or streaming services, etc., without acknowledging the name of the Plaintiff, in the opening credits,” Justice Prathiba M Singh said in the order.
The court passed the order on a plea by Fox Star Studio, producer of the movie which was released on Friday, challenging a trial court’s Thursday order asking them to acknowledge the contribution of the advocate. The High Court modified the acknowledgement of the trial court which had directed that the film ‘Chhapaak’ carry the line “Aparna Bhat continues to fight cases of sexual and physical violence against women during the screening of the film”. Regarding the theatrical exhibition, the court said since the film has already been released on January 10, both internationally and in India, to ensure that there is no disruption in the screening, it is directed that the film shall not be exhibited in theatres with effect from January 15 without adding the credit to the advocate to the digital copies.