Tug-of-war for Sholay at Delhi HC

[Ramu]

The producers of the new Sholay claimed at the Delhi High Court on Thursday that the movie is an original work and the film does not violate the trademark law in any manner even though it is a namesake of 1970’s blockbuster, Sholay.
They were responding to a lawsuit filed by Sascha Sippy, grandson of GP Sippy, the producer of the original film, which created many a record in 1970s .
Ram Gopal Verma, however, contended in the court that Sascha Sippy’s case could at best be of proprietorship and in no way can be considered a case of trademark infringement.
“He (Sascha) was not the proprietor of film Sholay, and it cannot be a trademark case,” senior advocate Ravi Kadam, appearing for Varma, submitted before Justice Gita Mital.
Sascha Sippy, who claims to be the copyright holder of Sholay, has accused Varma of infringing trademark on the title of the film and its popular character ‘Gabbar’, which was played by Amjad Khan. Superstar Amitabh Bachchan plays a role called ‘Gabbar’ the new Sholay, titled Ram Gopal Varma ki Sholay
Interestingly, Verma’s latest film, Nishabd, too had to pass the test of a copyright case before its release a fortnight back. Verma is known for several blockbuster films like Shool, Rangila, Satya and Company among others.
The counsel for Ram Gopal Verma also contended that Sascha was no longer the owner of the film as he cannot become the proprietor of the film automatically after the death of the second partner of the firm, Sippy Films.
The senior advocate said the firm stood dissolved in September 1997 after the death of a partner. He claimed that Varma’s “Sholay” was completely different from the Sippy’s blockbuster.


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