Bombay High Court declines plea for urgent relief by Trishul Media for credits in movie Adipurush

The Bombay High Court on Thursday refused to grant urgent relief to Trishul Media Entertainment, a VFX studio that has claimed it is entitled to credits in the multi-lingual film, Adipurush, which is slated to release on June 16, 2023..A single judge bench of Justice RI Chagla was informed that a co-producer, Super Cassettes Pvt Ltd (known as T-series), was not made a party to the suit even though it was a necessary party. T-series, represented by advocates Rashmin Khandekar and Megha Chandra pleaded that if it is not made a party, the Court cannot hear the plea for urgent relief of stay on release of the film.At this point, advocate Abhinav Chandrachud, appearing for Trishul, stated that the company does not want to press for a stay on the release of the film.In view of this, the judge granted time to the defendants to file their replies and posted the matter for hearing on July 17. .Trishul claimed, in its suit, that it had entered into VFX studio agreements with Retrophiles Private Limited, the producer of the film.Through its application, Trishul also sought for the payment of dues to the tune of ₹4,77,31,321, which included damages caused to Trishul.The application, filed by Gandhar Raikar and Sanket Singh, stated that there was an apprehension that the production company was formed only for producing the film and, in all likelihood, was going to be wound up after the film is released. During meetings concerning the payment of dues, Retrophiles allegedly refused to give any credits to Trishul. Trishul claimed that it will not be in position to enforce its rights and get its dues paid once the film is released. In view of this, it filed the application for urgent reliefs..Trishul urged the Court to order Retrophiles to give the VFX studio due credit in the film. It also sought for a stay on the release of the film until such credits are duly incorporated in the movie. Trishul further sought for an order seeking the deposit of the money due to it in terms of the agreements executed between the parties..Senior Advocate Ashish Kamath countered before the Court that Trishul had been given credit for character assets. He also submitted a photograph to prove his point. The Court took the same on record and noted that the issue of giving credit had been addressed. The Court proceeded to grant time to Retrophiles to respond to the prayer regarding the payment of dues to Trishul..Khandekar was briefed by advocates Ameet Naik, Madhu Gadodia and Deepak Deshmukh from Anand & Naik.