Ajay Devgn starrer Maidaan gets clean chit from Karnataka High Court in plagiarism row; stay order on film lifted

Today, Ajay Devgn’s much-anticipated biographical sports drama Maidaan hits screens and fans couldn’t be happier. While fans across the country had access to watch it already, those in Karnataka had to wait a while longer as the Amit Ravindernath Sharma directorial found itself in legal trouble.

For those who haven’t read about it yet, scriptwriter Anil Kumar claimed that the film showcasing the journey of football coach Syed Abdul Rahim was plagiarised. Following these claims, a Mysore sessions court ordered a stay on the film. Now there’s an update and it’s in favour of the film.

During today’s hearing in the Karnataka High Court, the justices lifted the stay, allowing the film’s release to proceed as planned. A trade expert took to social media and shared that the Karnataka High Court has given the film a clean chit. Taking to X (formerly Twitter), the trade expert wrote, “Karnataka High Court has lifted the stay on the release of #Maidaan. Today, paving the way to its release!! @ajaydevgn.”

Anil Kumar’s claims

Via a LinkedIn post, Anil Kumar claimed the story of Maidaan was based on a story he had registered with the Screen Writers Association years ago. He shared, “In 2010, I started writing the story and in 2018, I posted a poster about this, and I got in contact with ad director Sukhdas Suryavanshi through my LinkedIn post. He called me to Bombay (Mumbai) and asked me to get the script. I have the whole chat history. He told me that he’d make me meet Aamir Khan, but I couldn’t meet him for certain reasons. I gave him the story and registered the same with the Screen Writers Association.” Sukhdas Suryavanshi went on to be an Assistant Director on Maidaan. 

He further added, “Recently, I heard that a movie named Maidaan is getting released. I was surprised because even I have the same story. When I looked at the teaser and their statements, I got to know that it was my story. They have twisted the main story itself and made this movie. I named the story Paadakanduka.”

Maidaan maker’s response 

In response to this, Bay View Projects LLP, a co-producer of Maidaan, issued a statement reading, “We were not served any notice prior to the filing of the said suit or hearing of the matter. Additionally, the said order has been passed after the release of the film and therefore, any such order passed that retrains the release of the film is infructuous under law.” The added, “However, we are filing an appeal against the order before the Hon’ble High Court of Karnataka. We shall move the matter before the Hon’ble High Court for urgent reliefs in order to stay the operation of the said order.”

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