Filmmaker Madhur Bhandarkar has called producers Apoorva Mehta and Karan Johar “morally and ethically wrong” for using his film’s title Bollywood Wives for their upcoming Netflix show Fabulous Lives of Bollywood Wives. Bhandarkar said that Johar and Mehta had asked for permission to use the title and had been refused.
Dear @karanjohar U & @apoorvamehta18 had asked me 4 the title #BollywoodWives for web,which I refused,as my project is underway. It is Morally & ethically wrong u to tweak it to #TheFabulousLivesofBollywoodWives. Pls do not dent my project. I humbly request u to change the title.
— Madhur Bhandarkar (@imbhandarkar) November 20, 2020
According to a report by The Times of India, Bhandarkar has already lodged a complaint with the Indian Motion Pictures Producers’ Association (IMPPA) on Johar’s Dharma Productions. Following the complaint, IMPPA has reportedly reached out to Dharma Productions and Netflix, asking them to change the web series’ title. When contacted by Silverscreen India, Bhandarkar was unavailable for comment.
According to India Today, Bhandarkar’s Bollywood Wives will also be loosely based on Gauri Khan, Mira Rajput, and Twinkle Khanna, all partners of leading stars of the film industry. Bhandarkar had registered the title last year, according to the report.
Fabulous Lives of Bollywood Wives is an upcoming Netflix show that follows the lives of four Bollywood actors’ wives. The show will feature Maheep Kapoor (Sanjay Kapoor’s wife), Bhavana Panday (Chunky Panday’s wife), Seema Khan (Sohail Khan’s wife), and Neelam Kothari Soni (Samir Soni’s wife).
Recommended
The trailer, which released on November 13 and bore a striking similarity to hit US shows Keeping Up With The Kardashians and The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills opened to allegations of sexism on social media. The trailer shows the everyday lives of the actors’ wives, who claim to lead a simple life even as they message Hollywood celebrities like Kim Kardashian, and talk about buying groceries in a Rolls Royce.
Fabulous Lives of Bollywood Wives, which is scheduled to stream on Netflix from November 27, will also feature star Shah Rukh Khan and his wife Gauri Khan, along with Panday’s daughter and upcoming Hindi film star Ananya Panday, making guest appearances.