Vishal Bhardwaj’s Rangoon was stuck in a legal battle with Wadia Movietone Pvt. Ltd., over copyright infringement. For a smooth release of the film, the makers are reported to pay a hefty amount. Media reports suggest that the team of Rangoon deposited Rs 2 crore for the smooth release. The film is all slated to hit screens tomorrow.
The matter saw the light when a team from production house Wadia Movietone Pvt. Ltd. alleged Rangoon lifted the character of Julia (played by Kangana Ranaut) from their movie Hunterwali. They further argued Julia’s character was modelled on Australian stuntwoman Mary Evans aka Fearless Nadia. Wadias asserted that copyright to Nadia’s story belonged to them and makers of Rangoon copied it.
Giving the example of the trailer and promos, Wadias approached Bombay High Court. Roy Wadia had also presented the emails he had sent to Vishal Bhardwaj, director of Rangoon, and few others. In the emails, Roy pointed out he approached them for a film a few years ago. He got a reply many days later that the story didn’t have potential to be turned into a film.
A few years ago, Roy learned about a movie being made on Fearless Nadia and he quickly confronted the makers. When this happened, Vishal Bhardwaj and team denied these allegations.
Also read: Cinema A to Z: All you need to know about Rangoon, Vishal Bhardwaj’s World War II drama
But when the trailer of Rangoon released, Wadias noticed the uncanny resemblance with Nadia. Post this, they approached HC and Justice K R Sriram heard the case today. On hearing both sides of the story, the judge is said to have reached this decision.
Set against the backdrop of World War II, the film stars Kangana Ranaut, Saif Ali Khan and Shahid Kapoor in pivotal roles.
