Author seeks speedy justice in copyright case against Kangana Ranaut
Author Ashish Kaul, who had filed a case against Kangana Ranaut, has now approached the police seeking speedy justice. He said he has no information about the case's progress and doesn't know if the notice has been served to Ranaut or not. Kaul claims he has exclusive rights to the story of Kashmir's warrior queen Didda, on whom Ranaut has announced a movie.
Kaul's advocates Ravish Zamindar and Yogita Joshi informed that a notice was sent to the Khar Police station. "We are still unclear on the progress despite visiting the police station almost daily till the 15th of March, 2021. Hence, we sent this notice and hope there is swift action taken as per the law of the land," they said. The FIR was filed on March 12.
Ranaut had announced the second film in the Manikarnika franchise called, Manikarnika: The Legend of Didaa, in January this year. Problems brewed when Kaul claimed to have exclusive rights to Didda's story and approached law enforcement agencies. The FIR against Ranaut, her siblings Rangoli Chandel and Akshat Ranaut, and producer Kamal Kumar Jain was filed on the orders of Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate, Bandra.
According to Kaul, he had approached the actress to write the foreword for his book but never received a response. Later, the movie was announced. "The description of Didda as identified by Kangana Ranaut to promote her film is identical to what is set out in my book," he had said. Notably, the first film, Manikarnika: The Queen of Jhansi, had also invited controversies.
Ranaut is caught in other cases, including a criminal defamation case filed by lyricist Javed Akhtar and one filed by a casting director. The second case accuses Ranaut and Chandel of inciting communal disharmony. Recently, the actress requested the Supreme Court to move the cases against her and her sister to their home state Himachal Pradesh, claiming that the Maharashtra government is "harassing them."
