The Delhi High Court on Friday ruled that the film 'Doosra' violated former Indian cricket captain Sourav Ganguly's personality and publicity rights.
Justice Tejas Karia said that Ganguly's personality and publicity rights are so intertwined with the story of the film that it will not be feasible for the those parts to be removed from the film.
Hence, the Court directed that its makers, Ramesh Deo Productions Private Limited, should carry a disclaimer in Hindi and in English, both at the start and the end of the movie, stating clearly that Ganguly did not consent to the use of his persona in the movie and the film is not intended to violate his personality and public rights.
The disclaimer will have to be carried within two days of the Court's order.
Further, Justice Karia directed the makers of the film to furnish an unconditional bank guarantee of ₹2 crore with the Court's registrar in two weeks.
The Court added that if the defendants fail to comply with any of these conditions, the makers of the film and anyone acting on their behalf will be restrained from making commercial use of the movie or any of its aspects in anyway.
The order was passed after Ganguly and another film production company, Luv Films LLP, approached the High Court seeking to restrain the release of the film citing exploitation of the former's life events, particularly his captaincy in the NatWest cricket series final and his shirtless celebration at Lord's.
They alleged unauthorised commercial exploitation of Ganguly’s personality rights and infringement of the production house’s exclusive contractual rights over his proposed biopic.
Ganguly and Luv Films sought an injunction against the film’s theatrical, digital and other releases, as well as the circulation of promotional material allegedly using Ganguly’s name, image, likeness and iconic cricketing moments without authorisation.
According to the suit, Ganguly entered into an agreement with Luv Films on August 5, 2021, granting the production house exclusive rights to develop, produce and commercially exploit audiovisual content, including a biographical film based on his life and cricketing career.
The suit stated that Luv Films made substantial investments in the authorised biopic titled Dada – The Sourav Ganguly Story, which is scheduled for release on May 14, 2027.
However, they then came across the trailer and promotional campaign of Doosra, launched on October 12, prominently referring to Ganguly’s leadership of the Indian cricket team and its historic victory in the 2002 NatWest cricket series final at Lord’s. This included his shirtless celebration on the Lord’s balcony.
They contended that these references were being used to generate commercial interests by capitalising on Ganguly’s identity and reputation, potentially creating an impression that he is associated with or has endorsed the film.
The suit also cited an October 13 interview in which Doosra director Abhinay Deo discussed how the 2002 NatWest final and milestones in Ganguly’s career influenced the film’s fictional character, Tara.
Advocates Gitika Aggarwal, Jaya Goyal, Arjun Aggarwal, Manpreet Kaur and Mehak represented Sourav Ganguly and Luv Films. The suit was filed through Neo Juris Advocates & Solicitors.
Senior Advocate Saurabh Kirpal with advocates Ameet Naik, Madhu Gadodia, Sanjeevi Seshadri, Dhruv Anand, Sakshi Dube, Unnati Gambani and Khushi Agarwal represented the director and the producer of the film.