The Bombay High Court on Friday ruled that it can hear a suit related to the dispute over 'Bholaa' movie between Dream Warrior Pictures and Reliance Entertainment Studios [Dream Warrior Pictures v. Reliance Studio Entertainment & Ors.]
Bholaa is the Hindi remake of the 2019 Tamil-hit Kaithi. The case centres on allegations of copyright and contract breaches between the production houses, including Ajay Devgn Ffilms LLP
Justice Sharmila Deshmukh today rejected the argument by Reliance Entertainment that the High Court does not have jurisdiction to hear the matter.
Dream Warrior, which produced Kaithi, approached the Bombay High Court against Reliance Entertainment, seeking directions to halt the distribution of Bholaa, termination of remake agreements, and recovery of alleged unpaid dues and profits.
The company claimed that although an initial payment of ₹1 crore plus GST was made in April 2022 under agreements signed in March and April 2023, subsequent tranches due in April and May 2023 remained unpaid despite repeated reminders.
According to Dream Warrior, the rights to the remake automatically reverted to it after the default continued beyond November 27, 2024, following a demand notice issued in October 2024 for ₹4 crore plus interest.
Reliance and other respondents argued that the agreements executed in Chennai conferred exclusive jurisdiction on Chennai courts.
However, the High Court found that sufficient cause of action had arisen in Mumbai, thereby upholding its jurisdiction to hear the case.
The court noted that the assignment of 100% remake rights could take place only through the second agreement and it is the consequence of 100% assignment resulting in the remade film, which constitutes cause of action in present case.
"The jurisdiction clause under the second agreement confers jurisdiction on the Courts of Mumbai", the judge held.
With the jurisdictional issue now settled, the High Court will proceed with a substantive hearing on Dream Warrior’s claims on April 30.
Advocates Gaurav Mehta, Bhanu Chopra, Deepak Deshmukh, Jahan Ajay Chokshi, Mohit Shah, Adit Furia and Rashmi Shetty briefed by KJAC and Associates appeared for Dream Warriors.
Advocates Rohan Sawant, Chandrajit Das, Tamanna Meghrajani, Pavanaj Hariharan briefed by Parinam Law Associates represented Reliance Studios.
Advocates Hiren Kamod, Pragya Chandak, Arunima Phadke briefed by Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas appeared for Ajay Devgn Ffilms.
Advocates Thomas George, Neeti Nihal, Bargavi Baradhwaj briefed by Saikrishna Associates appeared for Amazon Seller Services.
Advocate Nirali Atha briefed by Dua Associates appeared for Zee Entertainment.
Advocate Jasmeet Kaur briefed by Naik Naik and Co. appeared for Super Cassettes.