The Hindi remake of the recently released Malayalam film Drishyam 2: The Resumption has landed in legal trouble. Panorama Studios, which has acquired the rights of the Mohanlal-starrer, has been dragged to court by Viacom18, which had co-produced the Hindi remake of Drishyam (2013).
Last week, Viacom18 Media Pvt Ltd approached the high court seeking a restraining order against Panorama Studios in an attempt to stop it from producing the sequel to the movie in Hindi.
According to Bar & Bench’s report, the case filed by Viacom cited that Panorama Studios was infringing on its copyright and seeking recognition and adjudication of copyright and other rights in the production of the sequel to the film in the Drishyam franchise.
In the latest hearing, Panorama Studios assured the high court that the shooting for the film would not begin till the next date of hearing of Viacom’s application. The production house has accepted that if it takes up any preparatory work such as scripting, screenplay, dialogue, it will be at its own risk and it will not be entitled to claim any equities on the basis of same in the future, the high court noted. The next hearing on the suit will take place on 18 June.
Panorama Studios announced on 4 May that it had acquired the Hindi remake rights of Drishyam 2 – The Resumption.
Set six years after the events of the first film, Drishyam 2, helmed by Jeethu Joseph, follows the struggle of the Georgekutty family, which has now become the subject of gossip and ridicule in the village.
The Hindi remake of the first film, also titled Drishyam (2015), starred Ajay Devgn, Shriya Saran and Tabu. The film was helmed by the late Nishikant Kamat and was a box office hit.