In yet another case of a company dragging a movie production house to court, Bajaj Auto has filed a case against actor-producer John Abraham’s production house JA Entertainment over the title of its upcoming movie.

JA Entertainment, which produced the blockbuster Vicky Donor , is making a movie titled Hamara Bajaj , starring Ayushman Khurrana and Yami Gautam.

Bajaj Auto, in its filing before the Bombay High Court, has contented copyright infringement, which means unauthorised use of someone else’s work or intellectual property without the written permission of the copyright holder. Arguing before Justice S. J. Kathawala on Tuesday, the auto firm’s counsel said the production house had used the company’s tagline ‘Hamara Bajaj’ as the name of the movie. This, he contented, was illegal.

Sanjiv Punalekar, representing JA Entertainment, claimed the movie is not related to the auto company in any way and that the title does not refer to the Bajaj scooter or the Bajaj group, makers of Bajaj motorbikes and Chetak scooters. “There are so many people in this country with the surname Bajaj, and the movie talks about a character named Bajaj,” he said.

Adjourning the case, the court ordered JA Entertainment not to promote, advertise or talk about the movie till further orders. It also directed the company not to release the movie till final judgment. Slated for end-2013 release, the movie is said to be inspired by Dev Anand’s cult classic Guide .

In 2010, fast moving consumer goods firm Emami had sued Arbaaz Khan Productions for using ‘Zandu Balm’ in the movie’s popular number Munni Badnaam Hui . Emami won the battle.

An aside: Malaika Arora Khan, the actress on whom the song was pictured, was appointed Zandu Balm’s brand ambassador.

>priyanka.pani@thehindu.co.in

Related Topics
comment COMMENT NOW