Famous filmmaker Firoz Nadiadwala (62) has filed a complaint at Amboli Police Station in Mumbai regarding the copyright and remake rights of the film ‘Hera Pheri’. He has alleged that some people in collusion have tried to usurp his legal rights and extort crores of rupees from him.
What is the whole matter?
According to Nadiadwala, the superhit film ‘Hera Pheri’ (2000) is based on the Malayalam film ‘Ramji Rao Speaking’ (1989). Firoz claims that he had legally purchased the remake rights of this story in Hindi and other languages (except South Indian languages) in the year 2000 itself from Suresh Kumar Singhal of ‘M/s Compact Disc India Limited’ for Rs 4,50,000.
Firoz Nadiadwala told in his complaint that just 7 days before the release of the film in the year 2000, some people had tried to extort money by putting pressure on him. He said, “At that time there was a huge investment in the film, so due to fear of defamation and loss, I had to come under pressure and pay, even though the court had given a stay order in my favor.”
According to the complaint, now after 25 years a new conspiracy has been hatched. Firoz alleged that the owners of the original film (Siddiqui KL and M. Paul Michael), despite knowing that those rights had already been sold, sold the rights again to ‘Gopala Pillai Vijayakumar’ (M/s Seven Arts International) on May 12, 2022, for a paltry sum of only Rs 3 lakh.
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Firoz Nadiadwala told that in December 2024, he received a legal notice, in which his film ‘Phir Hera Pheri’ (2006) has been declared illegal. The opponents have demanded Rs 60 lakh from him and 25% of the total profit from the film.
Nadiadwala has said in his complaint that the opposing parties are obstructing the process of going public (public listing) of his company. He alleged that by using the names of big stars like Akshay Kumar, Sunil Shetty and Paresh Rawal, false news is being spread about them, which is damaging their business reputation. Police have started investigation in this matter and soon the concerned parties may be called for questioning.
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