MHC gives green flag to release 'Harkara' on some conditions

CHENNAI: A mere thank you note and an acknowledgment in the film title card enabled a filmmaker to wriggle out of a ban on the release of a movie that the Madras High Court had imposed on Thursday.

Justice P T Asha observed that the film Harkara which was banned on Thursday is permitted to release on some conditions. The filmmaker should showcase acknowledgement in the title card that the Harkara film is based on the original film Oatta Thoodhuvan 1854, which was written and directed by R Chidambaram, read the judgment. The insertion will also carry over to the original title run in the OTT release, read the judgment.

The plaintiff R. Chidambaram moved to the Madras High Court (MHC) seeking to issue a permanent ban on the release of the film Harkara without acknowledging his name in the credits of the film.

According to the plaintiff, the Harkara film was originally titled as Oatta Thoodhuvan 1854 and it was directed and scripted by him. He further contended that now the defendant Ram Arun Castro, who was originally the producer of the film, renamed the film name as Harkara by adding two new scenes to the film as Oatta Thoodhuvan 1854 and credited himself as the director and scriptwriter of the film.

After the submission, the judge issued an interim stay to the release of the film Harkara before a day of release, on Thursday.

The case was listed on Friday for hearing. The defendant's counsel said that the filmmaker already showcased a thanks note to the plaintiff. Further, he argued that the defendant had earlier given Rs.5 lakhs to the plaintiff for the copyrights of the film.

However, plaintiff's the counsel S V Vijay Prashanth argued that the plaintiff's name should be added to the credits as director and scriptwriter.

Later the judge allowed the defendant to release the film with a condition of acknowledgement in the title card.