Rangoon makers gave Rs 2 crore to Bombay HC, made 70 cuts before making it to theatres

Reports claim that Rangoon makers removed 70 cuts from the original film before the film could make it to theatres. They have also deposited Rs 2 crore with Bombay high court by way of guarantee till the final disposal of a case of copyright infringement. Roy Wadia has claimed Kangana’s role takes heavily from the lead character of Hunterwali (1935).

The Kangana Ranaut-Shahid Kapoor-Saif Ali Khan-starrer Rangoon that released on Friday had a bumpy ride to the theatres. While Vishal Bhardwaj and the makers of Rangoon deposited Rs 2 crore with the Bombay high court, reports now claim they also made a whopping 70 cuts before the much-awaited movie hit the theatres.

Kangana Ranaut plays Miss Julia, an action heroine in Rangoon.

Shahid Kapoor and Saif Ali Khan also feature in the film.

Last week, Roy Wadia of the production firm Wadia Movietone Pvt. Ltd, dragged Rangoon makers to court when he filed a commercial suit against director Vishal Bhardwaj and others, claiming that Ranaut’s character in the film drew heavily from that of ‘Fearless Nadia’—the protagonist of its 1935 film Hunterwali. He had sought damages and as interim relief, urged the court to stay the release of the film. The Bombay high court, however, allowed the release of Rangoon, asking the makers to deposit Rs 2 crore with the high court by way of guarantee till the final disposal of the case.

Bhardwaj, through his counsel senior advocate Ravi Kadam, had refuted the allegations of plagiarism and argued that even if one was to believe allegations that Ranaut’s character in the film drew inspiration from that of ‘Fearless Nadia’s, it wouldn’t be copyright violation , for Nadia was “a real person” - a “historical figure” who lived through real events and that there couldn’t be any “copyright claims to a historical event or person.”

A Bollywoodhungama report claimed Friday that the makers removed 70 shots from the film and resent it to the Central Board of Film Certification . “70 shots have been removed from the film after it was censored and certified a month ago. The original length of the film was 2 hours 47 minutes after censoring. Now it is 2 hours 34 minutes. The product looks slicker and feels lighter. When the censor board members saw it they immediately warmed up to the re-edited product,” the report quoted a source as saying.

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