A Mumbai court on Friday refused to stay the release of filmmaker Vishal Bhardwaj’s upcoming Shahid Kapoor-starrer movie O'Romeo [Sanober Shaikh v. Sajid Nadiadwala & Ors.]
A City Civil Court in Mumbai dismissed the interim application by Sanober Shaikh, daughter of late journalist and encounter informer Hussain Shaikh alias Hussain Ustara who moved the Court seeking to stop the release of the film.
The interim application was filed by the Shaikh against producer Sajid Nadiadwala’s company, director Vishal Bhardwaj and others associated with the film.
The movie starring Shahid Kapoor is slated to hit theatres on February 13.
Additional Sessions Judge HC Shende clarified that his observations are prima facie and will not influence the final adjudication of the suit, which has been adjourned to March 12 for filing of written statement (response by the defendants).
Sanober Shaikh claimed that the movie is a biopic inspired by her father’s life and that the makers have misappropriated his persona and defamed him without consent. She moved the court seeking to stop the release till her suit is finally heard, and also sought a pre-screening of the film.
She alleged that the film was based on the life of her father, portrayed in the book ‘Mafia: Queens of Mumbai’, and would violate personality, privacy and reputational rights of the deceased and his family.
In a detailed affidavit filed on February 6, Bhardwaj termed the suit “false, frivolous, vexatious and misconceived.”
He raised preliminary objections of non-joinder of the producer company, lack of locus standi, and gross delay in approaching the court. He elaborated that the film had been announced in December 2024 and completed in August 2025, all of which were reported in the media widely.
“The instant suit filed by the plaintiff is nothing but a coercive tactic so as to exert pressure on the owners of the film to extract a financial settlement at the eleventh hour before the release of the film”, Bhardwaj claimed.
He pointed out how Shaikh had sent multiple legal notices demanding between ₹2-5 crores for alleged violation of privacy and personality rights, which demonstrated how Shaikh considered monetary compensation as an adequate remedy.
Bhardwaj also stressed that O'Romeo is not a biopic but a work of fiction merely inspired by themes from the book and supported by a prominent disclaimer stating that any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, was purely coincidental.
It was further contended that under settled law, personality, privacy and defamation claims do not survive the death of an individual.
Additionally, neither the deceased nor his daughter ever challenged the 2011 book 'Mafia Queens of Mumbai' in over a decade of its circulation.
With the interim plea now dismissed, the film can be released even as the suit continues before the court.
Advocates Ashwin Bhalekar briefed by team from Saikrishna and Associates including Thomas George, Tanvi Sinha, Navankur Pathak, Neeti Nihal and Bargavi Bharadwaj. appeared for Vishal Bharadwaj.
Bhalekar with Advocate Ravindra Sruyavanshi briefed by Bar and Brief Attorneys appeared for Sajid Naidadwalala.
[Read Roznama]