Sonil Dedhia (MID-DAY; April 25, 2017)

Six months after mid-day had first reported that a biopic on eminent lawyer Ram Jethmalani was in the works, a dispute over ownership rights to the project has now arisen. Producer Raj Khan says he will drag to court the 94-year-old lawyer, who had previously told us Khan's team would "have the right to tap upon any aspect [of my life] that they wish to". But Khan claims Jethmalani has transferred permissions for exclusive rights to Soha Ali Khan's Renegade Films.

In a notice to Soha and brother Saif Ali Khan on April 10, Raj Khan alleges the team "dishonestly tried to hijack" his work, "by trying to eliminate him from his own project". "I have also sent notices to Mr Jethmalani and co-producer Ronnie Screwvala. I have had the rights for over three years and have invested a lot of time, money and resources into making it. I was surprised to learn that Soha's team was promoting the project as their own. When I confronted Mr Jethmalani, he said, 'Mujhe laga woh tere log hain' (I thought they were part of your team). But he hasn't done anything," says Khan, pointing out that a lawyer of his calibre cannot be fooled by a bunch of producers. "Reputed Supreme Court lawyer Ravi Bakshi will fight the case for me."

Khan, who was also set to play a pivotal role in the film, even considered collaborating with Soha's team, given that they are "big players" in the industry, but claims they were unwilling, with their lawyer blatantly suggesting he could take up whichever recourse he deemed suitable.

When we reached out to Ronnie's team, his spokesperson refused to comment on the development but confirmed a biopic on Jethmalani's life was in the works, even insisting that the rights were procured legally. However, lawyer Shweta Bansal, who is representing Soha, and advising Ronnie and Jethmalani's team, said, "[A legal notice was served] to Soha's team, and copies to the other parties. Soha and Kunal have exclusive media rights to his life. His [Khan's] accusations have no merit. In fact, Mr Jethmalani has issued a letter stating that except for them, nobody else has the rights to a film, web series or any other media content on him."

In a letter shared by Shweta with us, Jethmalani's team writes Khan "has no life rights from me but wants to make the movie based on information in the public domain. The movie will have no inputs from me." As per the letter, "Soha and Kunal would have irrevocable media rights". Bansal adds, "This agreement [with Renegade] dates to February 2016."

Jethmalani was unavailable for comment' His secretary, Sanjay Ahluwalia, confirmed a legal agreement was chalked out with Soha' and Jethmalani would help both parties with details.


Ram Jethmalani with Raj Khan