Maidaan and Bade Miyan Chote Miyan have finally released and while we await the Day 1 box office, it seems that one of these films is facing a hurdle when it comes to the release. We are talking about Maidaan, and how it has landed itself in a bit of pickle in the Mysuru Court. A report in Bollywood Hungama suggests that a Kannada scriptwriter named Anil Kumar took to social media to claim that he wrote the script of the film and did not get any credit for the same.
Kumar explained that he had submitted a copy of the script to Sukhdas Suryavanshi, who incidentally is the assistant director of Maidaan. His long post on LinkedIn read, “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”. He went on to add, “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.”
Once this post came out, Kumar appealed to the district and sessions court in Mysuru, who then went on to issue a stay in the release of Maidaan.
But on their side, the makers of Maidaan – Zee Studios and Boney Kapoor’s Bayview Projects LLP issued a statement asserting that the order was passed without listening to their side of the story. They shared this statement on social media which read, “We have just been served the copy of the Order of the District Judge restraining the release of the film. At the outset, we would like to place on record that the said order passed by the District Judge is an ex-parte order, without giving us an opportunity of being heard.”
They went on to write, “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. 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. Without prejudice to the aforesaid, we are taking all the steps as we have been legally advised, kindly be assured that the release of the film can continue. We shall update you regarding the further developments regarding this, once we move the matter before the Hon’ble High Court.”
Maidaan is set against the backdrop of 1950s and 1960s and showcases the incredible take of Syed Abdul Rahim, who was responsible for presenting the golden era of football and led Indian football team to win the gold medal at the 1962 Asian Games.
