Court stays release of Ghajini in Tamil Nadu

Chennai/Mumbai: The Madras High Court on Tuesday stayed the release of the much-awaited Aamir Khan-starred Hindi film Ghajini, two days before it was to hit the screens worldwide after the producers of the Tamil film on which it is based filed objections.

Justice P R Shivakumar granted the stay after A Chandrasekaran, the producer of the original Tamil film of the same name, filed a suit claiming that the producers of the Hindi remake had "fabricated documents to claim ownership over the remake rights".

Senior Counsel A.R.L. Sundaresan who appeared for the petitioner told IANS: "The judge has accepted our plea that Geetha Arts and director A.R. Murugadoss had fabricated documents to claim ownership over the remake rights of the movie Ghajini, which our clients had not assigned at all."

"Our matter is not connected to any other matter in any other court," he said, referring to the Bombay High Court order allowing release of the film.

"Our colleagues have filed a caveat to meet any appeal filed during the winter vacation starting tomorrow (Wednesday) in view of the release that was scheduled on Dec 25 - which has now been stayed," Sundaresan added.

Ghajini, a revenge saga, has Aamir Khan in the lead role and Asin plays his love interest.

In the petition filed in the Bombay High Court, Mumbai-based K B C Pictures had sought a stay claiming Ghajini infringed its copyright of a film being made by them on the same subject entitled Kahani Ghajini Ki.

Film industry circles say an amount of at least Rs 1.2 billion was riding on the Hindi remake.

Mumbai reports said earlier that Rs 140 million had been spent on the Hindi version's publicity alone.

According to the Hindi version's producer Madhu Mantena, various brands being endorsed by actor Aamir Khan have joined hands for the Rs.140-million promotional campaign, the costliest ever Bollywood movie.

"This kind of promotional campaign is necessary to create a hype around the film, so that more people become aware of its release," Mantena said.

Some brands associated with the campaign have come out with their new product lines.

While clothing brand Van Heusen has already launched its new 'Ghajini' apparel, the mobile instrument and accessories' company Samsung has come out with two special edition mobile sets, L700 and M200. These two models are pre-loaded with 'Ghajini' ringtones, songs and pictures.