Copyright row mars Vijay’s Bigil

Independent filmmaker Dr Nandi Chinni Kumar from Hyderabad, who has been fighting over the copyright of two films — Tamil/Telugu film Bigil/Whistle starring Vijay and Amitabh Bachchan-starrer Jhund, has got some relief, with the court granting an injunction not to screen the former on any digital platform.

Interestingly, Amazon had bought the digital rights of the Vijay-starrer and was planning to screen it as it has almost completed six weeks. However, the court order has come as a dampener.  Nandi alleges that Vijay’s film resembles the story of Akhilesh Paul, a soccer player from the slums who was the Indian captain at the Homeless World Cup. However, since Nandi had bought exclusive rights over Akhilesh Paul’s biopic, he took the case to the courts over copyright infringement. “I am very happy now and will continue my legal battle for full justice,” he says. He had also earlier lodged complaints against the makers of Bigil with various film-related associations apart from registering an FIR against the filmmakers.  Nandi is also fighting against Jhund on similar lines, and has already served notices to the makers of the film. He says that he is prepared to file a lawsuit to seek a permanent injunction against the theatrical, satellite and digital release of the film.