Court denies relief to 20th Century Fox

American film studio Twentieth Century Fox was not granted any relief by the High Court in the plagiarism and copyrights violation case against BR Chopra Films on Thursday.

The Hollywood giant has sought Rs 7 crore damages and an injunction against the release of the Hindi film Banda Yeh Bindaas Hai alleging it was a remake of their 1992 film My Cousin Vinny.

This is the first time that a Hollywood film studio has taken a Bollywood studio to court over re-making their films.

After hearing arguments of Janak Dwarkadas, counsel for Fox, Justice AP Deshpande kept the matter after vacation. The court however, did not grant any relief to Fox in terms of stay over the film. The HC has, however, granted liberty to Fox to move vacation court, if required.

“The arguments would go on for long time. Also, the court may want to see the film,” Dwarkadas told Hindustan Times.

Fox claimed that it had given permission to make a film based on the idea of the Oscar-winning movie but that rights for a Hindi-language remake had not been approved. A study of the script found it to be a “substantial reproduction” of the American film and the storyline was identical, claimed Fox.

BR Films denied the allegations stating Banda Yeh Bindaas Hai was an original film.

First Published: May 08, 2009 01:27 IST