Copyright case against Rangoon

February 23, 2017

Mumbai, Feb 23: It may be a nail biting finish for Rangoon, the Kangana Ranaut-Saif Ali Khan-Shahid Kapoor starrer, in the Bombay high court ahead of its scheduled release date of February 24. Its director Vishal Bhardwaj is defending allegations that the film's swashbuckling 1940s movie star character is copyright violation of 'Fearless Nadia' a stunt actor of the 1930s and '40s.

rangoon

A production house, Wadia Movietone Pvt. Ltd, has claimed that Miss Julia, the character of Ranaut, is based on real-life Australian stunt actor Mary Evans, better known globally as Fearless Nadia. The firm said it holds rights to all scripts, publicity material and posters for the Fearless Nadia films which it had produced. The Wadias' suit alleges that the makers of Rangoon have infringed on the copyrighted Fearless Nadia's characters, costumes, persona and even her signature phrase.

But seeking dismissal of the suit as being baseless, Bhardwaj's lead counsel Ravi Kadam argued on Wednesday that there is no copyright on historical characters and it is well known that in that era there were a large number of stunt women who would perform their own stunts. More importantly, he said that Fearless Nadia was the name of the actress and not a character in any of their films. The Wadia films "reflect the genre of the 1940s and not any individual", he said.

Justice K R Sriram, who is hearing the matter, will continue to hear Kadam at 10 am on Thursday. Earlier Wadia's counsel Navroz Seervai had argued how Bhardwaj, Nadiadwala Grandson, Viacom 18 Media, Sabrina Dhawan and others were in violation of the copyright law.

Dragged to the HC by Roy Wadia is also US-based award winning 73-year-old scriptwriter Mathew Robbins. As a co-scriptwriter of Rangoon, he denied all allegations and his reply said that the character of Julia is "based on independent research...where we discovered that in the year 1930s-40s numerous films were made by various production houses where female protagonist was a stunt woman, who would wear western clothes, would carry a weapon like a sword, pistol or whip and that 'Nadia' was just one of those several stunt actresses which featured in multiple films projecting empowered and strong women.''

His affidavit also said that the get up of stunt heroine Nadia herself in her films of yore were an "exact replica of the internationally well-known film character 'Zorro' with the eye-mask, whip and hat."

"The claim set up in favour of the late JBH Wadia is not only erroneous but incorrectly claims 'proprietary rights' over several 'features' which were not only common but which due to their use as part of the trend virtually are stock features used commonly by all film producers during the period of the 1930s to the late 40s,'' said the reply.

The defendants' case is also that the late JBH Wadia did nothing to seek to assert such rights by suits during the period against other film makers when the Fearless Nadia films, as per claims of Wadia, were at the very height of their popularity. The defendant said, "Wadia did nothing because he was aware that the film industry followed trends and that at the time swashbuckling, stunt woman characters."

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News Network
June 19,2020

Mumbai, Jun 19: Actor Sushant Singh Rajput’s memories will continue to be celebrated as Instagram has memorialised his account, adding “remembering” to his bio.

Rajput, 34, known for films like "Kai Po Che!", "MS Dhoni: The Untold Story", "Chhichhore", was found dead in his Bandra apartment on Sunday, sending shockwaves in the film industry and elsewhere.

Days after his untimely demise, Instagram added “remembering” to his account bio and memorialised it as a place to remember the actor’s life.

According to the photo-video sharing website, no one can log into a memorialised account. The posts the deceased person shared, including photos and videos, stay on their page and are visible to the users they were shared with.

Also, once the account is memorialised, no one will be able to make changes to any of the existing posts or information.

The actor’s last post on the social media platform was a tribute to his late mother on June 3.

Rajput’s death is being investigated by the Mumbai Police and so far statements of over 13 people, including actor’s family members and close friends, including actor Rhea Chakraborty and casting director Mukesh Chhabra, have been recorded.

The police have also sent a letter to Yash Raj Films seeking details of the contracts it had signed with him.

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News Network
February 10,2020

Feb 10: Bong Joon-ho’s film “Parasite” starts in a dingy, half-basement apartment with a family of four barely able to scratch out a life. There must be no place to go but up, right? Yes and no. There’s nothing predictable when the South Korean director is on his game.

This dark, socially conscious film about the intertwining of two families is an intricately plotted, adult thriller. We can go up, for sure, but Bong can also take us deeper down. There’s always an extra floor somewhere in this masterpiece.

It tells the story of the impoverished four-person Kim family who, one by one, and with careful and devious planning, all get employed by the four-person affluent Park family — as a tutor, an art teacher, a driver and a housekeeper. They are imposters stunned by the way wealth can make things easier: “Money is an iron. It smooths out all the creases,” says the Park patriarch with wonder.

Bong, who directed and wrote the story for “Parasite,” has picked his title carefully, of course. Naturally, he’s alluding to the sycophantic relationship by a clan of scammers to the clueless rich who have unwittingly opened the doors of their home on a hill. But it’s not that simple. The rich family seem incapable of doing anything — from dishes to sex — without help. Who’s scamming who?

Bong’s previous films play with film genres and never hide their social commentary — think of the environmentalist pig-caper “Okja” and the dystopian sci-fi global warming scream “Snowpiercer.” But this time, Bong’s canvas is a thousand times smaller and his focus light-years more intense. There are no CGI train chases on mountains or car chases through cities. (There is also, thankfully, 100% less Tilda Swinton, a frequent, over-the-top Bong collaborator.

The two Korean families first make contact when a friend of the Kim’s son asks him to take over English lessons for the Park daughter. Soon the son (a dreamy Choi Woo-sik) convinces them to hire his sister (the excellent Park So-dam) as an art teacher, but doesn’t reveal it’s his sis. She forges her diploma and spews arty nonsense she learned on the internet, impressing the polite but firm Park matriarch (a superb Jo Yeo-jeong.)

The Park’s regular chauffer is soon let go and replaced by the Kim patriarch (a steely Lee Sun-kyun). Ditto the housemaid, who is dumped in favor of the Kims’ mother (a feisty Jang Hye-jin.) All eight people seem happy with the new arrangement until Bong reveals a twist: There are more parasites than you imagined. The clean, impeccably furnished Park home will have some blood splashing about.

Bong’s trademark slapstick is still here but the rough edges of his often too-loud lessons are shaved down nicely and his actors step forward. “Keep it focused,” the Kim’s son counsels his father at one point. Bong has followed that advice.

There are typically dazzling Bong touches throughout. Just look for all the insect references — stink bugs at the beginning to flies at the end, and a preoccupation with odor across the frames. And there’s a scene in which the rich matriarch skillfully winds noodles in a bowl while, in another room, duct tape is being wrapped around a victim and classical music plays.

Bong could have been more strident in his social critique but hasn’t. There are no villains in “Parasite” — and also no heroes. Both families are forever broken after chafing against each other, a bleak message about the classes ever really co-existing (Take that, “Downton Abbey”).

“Parasite” is a worthy winner of the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival, the first South Korean movie to win the prestigious top prize. The director has called it an “unstoppably fierce tragicomedy.” We just call it brilliant.

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News Network
May 20,2020

Mumbai, May 20: Doing his bit to help people in need during the ongoing coronavirus crisis, and the lockdown 4.0 phase, Bollywood actor Salman Khan has initiated ''Being Haangryy''- food truck facility to distribute, provide ration to needy.

To feed the affected people in Mumbai, the food truck with the words ''Being Haangryy'' written on it, was seen in Mumbai roads on Wednesday, where volunteers are providing huge bags of ration. A long queue of people was standing near the truck to get the essentials.

Many videos of the truck moving around the city providing ration kits to the people in need, surfaced on the internet from earlier this month.

However, the Bajrangi Bhaijaan actor has not announced this initiative himself on his personal social media accounts.

The Sultan actor is staying at his Panvel farmhouse with his nephew Nirvaan Khan and other family members ever since the lockdown was announced.

Earlier, the 54-year-old actor urged people to take up the ''Anna Daan'' challenge and donate to the underprivileged ones who are worst affected by the COVID-19 lockdown.

After urging people to take up the ''Anna Daan'' challenge, the actor posted a video on Twitter, that features him and Iulia Vantur, Jacqueline Fernandez among others loading the bags filled with ration on to a truck.

Khan actively posts videos on his social media handles to raise awareness about the importance of social distancing during COVID-19.

 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

@jacquelinef143 @vanturiulia @rahulnarainkanal @imkamaalkhan @niketan_m @waluschaa @abhiraj88

A post shared by Salman Khan (@beingsalmankhan) on

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