Ravi Teja starrer Telugu movie Khiladi has landed in legal trouble. A day after its release, a case has been filed at the Delhi High Court by producer Ratan Jain against the makers of the movie. It has been alleged that the makers of the Telugu movie used the title Khiladi without his permission. For the unversed, Khiladi was also the name of Akshay Kumar’s 1992 superhit movie with which Ratan began his career as a filmmaker.
“We have filed the case on both parties – the presenter and the producer,” filmmaker Ratan Jain said while speaking to Bollywood Hungama. This means that the complaint has been filed not just for the Hindi version, but for the Telugu version too.
Ratan Jain also questioned the makers for releasing the trailer of the movie ‘too late’ and added that there was no delay from his side to file the case. “We had a hearing yesterday. We presented our case. According to the judge, it was too late to stop the release. We made it clear that we do not want to halt the film from being released. I don’t know why they did this but they released the trailer very late, on February 8, though their film’s release was planned for February 11. We prepared for the case on February 9. The case went for hearing at the Delhi High Court on February 10. So, from my side, I have not done any delay,” he said.
The filmmaker also urged makers to follow the copyright law. He also mentioned that if somebody searches for Khiladi (1992 movie) on Google, it will show the results of the Telugu movie.
“Now the whole ballgame has changed. The South filmmakers register the title through the association in the South. Thanks to the success of Pushpa (2021), this has now become a trend – to release a South film in the dubbed version in cinemas on the same day. And they are using the same title for the Hindi version. Tomorrow, they’ll use the title of many other big Bollywood hit films for their movies. Kitna bada confusion hoga isse. Today, if you google for our Khiladi film, you’ll get results of the Telugu film. This is not done. There’s a copyright law in place and the makers should have followed it.”
The next hearing of the case is now on Wednesday i.e on February 16. On being asked if he is now demanding financial compensation, Ratan Jain stated, “Let the court decide. I don’t have a say on this matter. My only point is that they cannot release the film as Khiladi as that is my trademark.”
