Over two months after a case was registered under the Copyright Act against directors of Yash Raj Films in connection with the Salman Khan-starrer, Ek Tha Tiger, a criminal offence has just been registered against them at Amboli police station. This, said police officials, could pave the way for the arrest of one of Bollywood’s influential families.
DNA has a copy of the FIR (first information report) filed by the police.
Officials of Amboli police station, who spoke on the condition that this newspaper not name them, said they have found substance in the allegations that were made by scriptwriter Anand Panda.
Before Yash Raj Films’ Ek Tha Tiger released, Panda has alleged that it had been copied from his film script titled Ghost War which had once been rejected by Yash Raj Films, stating that it was excellent but of no use to them.
“I had to approach the high court for its order for an FIR to be lodged. I had decided not to let the fight cease till I get justice,” said Panda.
A police official admitted that there was a lot of pressure due to big names involved.
On the basis of Panda’s complaint, a case of cheating, criminal breach of trust among other sections of the Indian Penal Code along with sections of the Copyright Act were registered at Amboli police station on September 12. The complaint includes the names of late film-maker Yash Chopra, his wife Pamela, their sons Aditya and Uday besides others involved with the film project – Kabeer Khan, Nilesh Mishra and Sanyukta.
“Due to the big names involved, there was a lot of pressure and we could not have lodged an FIR unless we had enough evidence to buttress our claims. We did not want things to backfire,” said the official. “Now that we have proof, it’s time to take action. We’re awaiting a go-ahead from our seniors and legal advisors after which we will initiate necessary action. An arrest is imminent.”
Panda also claimed that certain scenes from the film, Jab Tak Hain Jaan, which was recently released by Yash Raj Films, also had scenes ripped from his script.
Attempts to contact additional commissioner of police (western region) Vishwas Nangre-Patil proved futile. Also, media officials of Yash Raj Films did not respond to text messages sent by DNA.
