Director Hansal Mehta and producer Bhushan Kumar have been summoned by the Delhi High Court after a lawsuit was filed objecting to their upcoming film, Faraaz, Hindustan Times reported.
Mehta had recently announced the film, starring late actor Shashi Kapoor’s grandson Zahaan Kapoor and actor Paresh Rawal’s son Aditya Rawal in the lead roles, and based on the Holey Artisan cafe attack that shook Bangladesh in July 2016.
Now, according to the HT report, the families of two victims of the attack – Tarishi Jain and Abinta Kabir – have filed a suit against the makers objecting to, among other things, the film being named after the girls’ best friend, Faraaz.
On the night of July 1, 2016, five young militants ravaged the upscale cafe in Dhaka and held over 50 people hostage for nearly 12 hours. Termed the worst terrorist attack in Bangladesh’s history, it resulted in the death of 29 people, including 20 hostages.
Faraaz, a joint production of Anubhav Sinha and Bhushan Kumar, is an action thriller that chronicles the events that took place on that night.
“He [Faraaz] was also a victim of the attack. Hansal and others are making a film on the attack, and they have named it Faraaz. We sent a legal notice to them, as we have apprehension that they are going to portray our clients’ daughters as well, and they have not taken any consent. This is an infringement on the right to privacy,” Yatin Grover, the lawyer representing the families, told the publication.
Recommended
Grover added that the response of the makers was ‘very vague’. “They said whatever they are going to do, is in public domain. They are going to take the material from there, this and that. Hence, we approached the court, and they listened to our arguments, went through the documents they have.”
He also noted that while in interviews the makers had stated that the film is based on true events, in the response to the legal notice, they had said it is a fictionalised version of the attack with no connection to the girls.
The lawyer added that as the filmmakers had not specified a date of release or put out a trailer yet, the families have not asked for an injunction against the film. “We have asked for a special screening, so we know nothing is portrayed wrong. We have reserved our rights to completely injunct the film, to not use the name Faraaz because that is closely connected with our daughters’ lives.”
Silverscreen India has reached out to Mehta for a comment.