'Barfi' leaves Kashmir sportsman bitter - Hindustan Times
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'Barfi' leaves Kashmir sportsman bitter

Hindustan Times | ByPeerzada Ashiq, Srinagar
Oct 24, 2012 12:42 PM IST

India's Oscar entry film 'Barfi' has left a Kashmir youth bitter. Majid Yousuf Dar (34), a manager with J&K Bank, has claimed that a picture of his has been used in the film without his knowledge, portraying him in bad light.

India's Oscar entry film 'Barfi' has left a Kashmir youth bitter.

Majid Yousuf Dar (34), a manager with J&K Bank, has claimed that a picture of his has been used in the film without his knowledge, portraying him in bad light.

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Dar is a well-known sportsman from the valley who has represented J&K Bank football team in tournaments such as I-League 2nd Div, Durand Cup and Federation Cup many a time.

He has represented J&K state football team in Santosh Trophy twice.

Dar is initiating a legal proceeding against the film's production house UTV Motion Pictures.

Dar, a resident of Srinagar's Dalgate area, was flooded with phone calls from friends in Mumbai and Delhi immediately after the release of the film last month.

"Initially I thought it to be a prank by friends. Then my Delhi-based cousin informed me about the use of my picture. I watched the film to find myself as one of the robbers pointed out by a police inspector in the film," alleged Dar.

The 'controversial' scene shows actress Ileana D'Cruz entering a police station looking for Barfi (Ranbir Kapoor) where an inspector informs her that he (Kapoor) has been arrested, pointing at mug shots of 'bank robbers' in the 'wanted list', which also includes Dar's picture.

This portrayal has come at the time when Kashmiri youth are struggling with their perceived image in the rest of the country. "One, the moviemakers did not take permission and then they dared to show a respectable person as a robber. I received a call from my seniors in the office too asking me to explain why I was shown as robber in the film. It seems the picture has been downloaded from the internet and pasted there twice, making it starkly prominent," said Dar.

Dar's Delhi-based lawyer Sajad Sultan is initiating a legal proceeding against UTV Films.
"We are filing a defamation case for damaging Dar's reputation by showing him in bad light. The portrayal is bound to have people drawing inferences," said Sultan.

Anurag Basu's 'Barfi' may be a sweet success story but bitter controversy seems to trail the movie again, which has also faced flak for being "inspired" by many Charlie Chaplin films.

Earlier, the production house got a legal notice for infringing copyrights of a firm. According to the firm, the film used the words 'Murphy', 'Murphy Radio' and 'Murphy Munna', a registered brand name, in the title song without prior written permission.

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