MH-HC-CHHAPAAK-WRITER

Writer moves HC against 'Chhapaak', seeks credit for story
    Mumbai, Dec 23 (PTI) A writer has approached the
Bombay High Court against Deepika Padukone-starrer "Chhapaak",
claiming he originally penned an acid attack survivor's story
on which the film is based.
    The petitioner, Rakesh Bharti, has sought that he
should be given credit as one of the writers of the film.
    The suit filed by Bharti claimed that he had conceived
an idea/script for a movie, tentatively titled 'Black Day',
and got it registered with the Indian Motion Pictures
Producers' Association (IMPPA) in February 2015.
    Bharti said since then he has been working on the
script and approaching several artists and producers,
including Fox Star Studio, for narration.
    "However, the project could not commence due to
unavoidable circumstances. The plaintiff had narrated the idea
to Fox Star Studio, which is the production house for
'Chhapaak'," the plea said.
    Bharti's advocate Ashok Sarogi said the plaintiff
later came to know that an identical film is being produced by
the defendants (Fox Star Studio and others) and directed by
Meghna Gulzar.
    Bharti submitted complaints to the producers but did
not get any reply following which he approached the high
court.
    In his plea, Bharti has sought that he be given credit
as one of the writers of the movie 'Chhapaak' and the film's
release be stayed until due credit is given to him.
    He has also sought for an expert to be appointed to
compare his script and that of 'Chhapaak'.
    Sarogi said the plea will be heard by a vacation bench
of the high court on December 27.
    'Chhapaak', based on the life of acid atack survivor
Laxmi Agarwal, stars Deepika Padukone and Vikrant Massey. It
is slated for release on January 10, 2020. PTI SP
GK GK

(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)