Film-maker moves court, says RGV copied his story for film

A filmmaker has filed a lawsuit against Bollywood director Ram Gopal Varma, claiming that Varma’s latest film, Not a Love Story, based on the Neeraj Grover murder case, was copied from the plaintiff’s movie. The Dindoshi Magistrate court has admitted the lawsuit.

A filmmaker has filed a lawsuit against Bollywood director Ram Gopal Varma, claiming that Varma’s latest film, Not a Love Story, based on the Neeraj Grover murder case, was copied from the plaintiff’s movie. The Dindoshi Magistrate court has admitted the lawsuit.

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The plaintiff, Shareef Ahmed Zuberi, filed the suit claiming his movie, Lov Affair, based on the Grover case was “70% complete” when he found out that Varma was releasing his film. Zuberi also pleaded the court to stay the release of Varma’s film, which the court rejected.

“My client has been wronged. Varma hurriedly made the film and is hurriedly releasing it on August 19. Zuberi stands to lose a lot if justice is not served,” said Zuberi’s advocate, Sushan Kunjuraman.

Zuberi claimed that he registered his said film with the Film Writers Association in July 2010 and later cast his production team. He added that he had not been able to finish the film as the subject matter was subjudice, and he was waiting for the verdict in the Grover case. Zuberi also said that he had spent Rs70 Lakh on the film. He further claimed that Varma poached actor Raja Choudhary, who was going to play the role of Neeraj Grover in ‘Love Story’

Varma, however, said: “If he (Zuberi) had objections with regard to the subject matter of my film he should have approached the court earlier, since the advertisements were released six months ago.”