Deepika Padukone's 'Chhapaak' gets a copyright violation lawsuit, complainant seeks credit

Chhapaak has been creating ripples with its promotions since last month and has been on the forefront because of its unique storyline evident in the hard-hitting trailer which cast a strong impact and left the netizens applauding Deepika for her brave portrayal. The movie has, however, landed into legal trouble as writer Rakesh Bharti has filed a complaint claiming that the idea of making a film on the acid attack survivor Laxmi Agarwal had originally been his thereby demanding a stay in the release of the film. Rakesh Bharti claims that he should be given the appropriate credit as the writer of the film, instead of monetary compensation, as he added that many of the instances and dialogues in the film have been taken from his script.

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Writer Rakesh Bharti presided over a press conference as he declared that he has sued the makers of Chhapaak for copyright infringement. He has reportedly filed a case against Fox Star Studios, Ka Production LLP, Mriga Films LLP, Anisha Padukone, Deepika Padukone, Govind Singh Sandhu, Meghna Gulzar, Atika Chohan, Parth Arora & Rukmini Sen. The complainant claimed that he had been developing the script of the film since 2014 after having met Laxmi Agarwal in person and obtaining a letter of confirmation from her.

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Bharti also revealed that he had registered the script of his film with the screenwriter's association in 2016 and pitched it to fox Star Studios for further development. He even claimed that he approached actors Kangana Ranaut, Anushka Sharma and Priyanka Chopra to play the lead role but was turned down after citing different reasons. The lawsuit has been filed on December 27, 2019 with the city High Court and the hearing for the same is scheduled for January 7.

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About Chhapaak

The Deepika Padukone and Vikrant Massey starrer Chhappak is slated to release on January 10, 2020. Deepika, last seen in Padmaavat, will appear on the silver screen after almost a year. The film will clash at the box-office with Ajay Devgn's upcoming period-drama Tanhaji: The Unsung Warrior.

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