Amitabh Bachchan’s ‘Jhund’ in trouble as filmmaker Nandi Chinni Kumar sends legal notice to makers

An independent filmmaker Nandi Chinni Kumar from Hyderabad has sent a legal notice to Amitabh Bachchan starrer ‘Jhund’ makers i.e, director and producer, Nagraj Manjule, producer Krishan Kumar, T-Series Chairman and Managing Director Bhushan Kumar, Amitabh Bachchan and also Slum Soccer founder Vijay Barse on whom the movie is based.

According to a report by IANS, the filmmaker told that he got the reply to the notice only from T-Series but it was ‘very vague’. He said that he was cheated and criminally intimidated by the makers of the film. Kumar plans to stop the screening of the movie in theatres, television and all digital platforms for which he will move to court. He claims that he had bought exclusive rights to make a movie on the life of Akhilesh Paul, a slum soccer player who was the Indian captain at the Homeless World Cup in 2017.

Kumar said he had planned to write and direct the multilingual movie that was tentatively titled ‘Slum Soccer’. The filmmaker claims to have registered the story and script with Telangana Cinema Writers Association on June 11, 2018. Kumar said, “Though Nagraj Manjule, director of Marathi blockbuster ‘Sairat’, bought rights to make a movie on the life of Vijay Barse, who is the coach of Akhilesh Paul, his film ‘Jhund’ also showcases Akhilesh’s story in a major role, thus allegedly violating the copyrights.”  He feels Nagraj Manjule claimed to have bought rights from Akhilesh Paul for Rs 4 lakh but was reluctant to show the documents. “Even Akhilesh denied selling him the rights. Nagraj humiliated me and forced to come for settlement without showing papers,” Kumar said.

Kumar alleged that Savita Raj, who is one of the producers of ‘Jhund’, threatened his producer in September 2019 claiming Akhilesh Paul’s copyrights are with them. Kumar had also sent an email to Amitabh Bachchan and to Nagraj and ‘Jhund’ producers exposing copyright infringement and criminal intimidation but there was no reply. Along with that he had also written to India Movie Pictures Producers Association (IMPPA) and Telangana Cinema Writers Association and urged the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) not to issue censor certificate to the movie.

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