Jhund: Amitabh Bachchan, Nagaraj Manjule film in row, filmmaker sends legal notices to duo

Amitabh Bachchan’s Jhund, directed by Nagraj Manjule, has landed in a row after a filmmaker alleged copyright violation against them. As per reports, a director from Hyderabad, Nandi Chinni Kumar has sent a legal notice to the actor-director duo and the makers alleging cheating and criminal intimidation by the team. The director has also written to the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) against giving the film a censor certificate and also plans to approach the court over the same. 

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As per a report on a news agency, Nandi Chinni Kumar claimed that he has sent notices to Amitabh Bachchan, Nagraj Manjule, T-Series chief Bhushan Kumar, Krishan Kumar, one of the producers. Vijay Barse, on whom the film is based on, a soccer coach who leads a team of slum players at the Homeless World Cup, has also been served a notice. 

Kumar reportedly claimed that he had bought the rights to make a film on Akhilesh Paul, who was the captain of the team at the Homeless World Cup. The filmmaker said that he bought the rights in 2017, and registered the story with the Telangana Cinema Writers Association in 2018. While Jhund will mainly depict the story of Vijay Barse, with Amitabh Bachchan’s role, Kumar said that the captain Akhilesh Paul’s story will also play a part in it, thus violating his copyright. 

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As per reports, Kumar said that only T-Series replied to his notice, but the reply was ‘vague.’ Kumar also claimed that Nagraj Manjule too stated that he had bought the rights to make a film on Akhilesh Paul for Rs 4 lakh. Kumar said Akhilesh has denied giving the rights to Nagraj Manjule. Kumar claimed Manjule ‘humiliated’ him and refused to show him the documents of the deal. 

The filmmaker also shared, as per reports, that one of the producers of the movie, Savita Raj, had ‘threatened’ his movie’s producer in September 2019, by claiming that the rights belonged to him. Nandi Chinni Kumar has raised the matter with the India Movie Pictures Producers Association (IMPPA), Telangana Cinema Writers Association, while also urging CBFC to not issue it a certificate. The filmmaker also plans to move courts to block its release from all platforms. 

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Jhund 

Jhund was earlier gearing up for release in September this year. However, there is no clarity yet on the new release date. Big B had completed the shooting in January this year.

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