In the midst of a battle among the producers of Parmanu: The Story Of Pokhran, actor-producer John Abraham's production house JA Entertainment released the teaser of the film today, only to be blocked by co-producers KriArj Entertainment citing copyright issues. A few hours ago, the teaser was blocked, but at the time of publishing this article, the teaser seemed to appear again on YouTube.
KriArj Entertainment sent out a long statement stating that they had filed a copyright infringement case against JA Entertainment that "illegally" released the trailer. That’s not all, KriArj Entertainment even requested the media not to put out the teaser as the matter is sub judice.
Read the full KriArj Entertainment statement below:
“This is to notify the media that sharing of any teaser/trailer/posters/marketing material released by JA Entertainment in respect of the film Parmanu is illegal and infringement of our rights as co producers/co-owners/presenters of the film Parmanu and exclusive right holders of the film and its marketing rights .
A copyright infringement suit has been filed by KriArj Entertainment before the Hon’ble Bombay high court earlier today which is due to be listed on Monday for hearing. The matter is sub judice and it is requested by one and all to respect the rights of KriArj Entertainment and not encourage the further dissemination of any marketing materials including creatives/teaser of the film as illegally released by JA Entertainment.”
After Abraham's JA Entertainment announced a termination of contract with KriArj Entertainment on 1 April, the latter responded by saying the termination was 'invalid and illegal'. This has resulted in a to and fro of accusations between the two parties, with KriArj Entertainment even going so far as to file a criminal complaint against the actor. However, this did not result in an FIR, and from the release of the teaser, it looks like the battle is set to intensify.
Abraham has so far not commented on the new twist. Sujay Kutty, business head, Zee Studios, had earlier told Cinestaan.com, that they were targeting 4 May as the release date, but refused to comment on the spat between JA Entertainment and KriArj Entertainment.
However, a reliable source closely associated with the film informed, “As far I know, this is an issue between KriArj Entertainment and JA Entertainment. Zee Studios has no problem with JA Entertainment. They have not filed any complaints against JA Entertainment. Zee Studios is purely committed to releasing the film on 4 May.”
Speaking to us earlier, KriArj Entertainment co-founder Prernaa Arora had claimed that JA Entertainment was haggling over the issue of Rs5 crore, which, she said, would be delivered to them at the appropriate time.