The Delhi High Court on Friday held that the film Doosra prima facie infringed the personality and publicity rights of former India cricket captain Sourav Ganguly, directing its makers to display prominent disclaimers and furnish an unconditional bank guarantee of Rs 2 crore.
Justice Tejas Karia, however, declined to restrain the theatrical screening of the film, observing that Ganguly's identity and incidents associated with his cricketing career were so closely intertwined with the narrative that removing the disputed portions would not be feasible at this stage.
The court directed Ramesh Deo Productions Private Limited, the company behind Doosra, to display disclaimers in Hindi and English at both the beginning and end of the film.
The disclaimers must clearly state that Ganguly had not consented to the use of his persona and that the film was not intended to infringe his personality or publicity rights.
The filmmakers have been given two days to comply with the direction and two weeks to furnish the Rs 2 crore bank guarantee with the High Court's registrar.
Justice Karia warned that failure to comply with either condition would result in the defendants and those acting on their behalf being restrained from commercially exploiting the film or any part of it.
๐๐ฎ๐ป๐ด๐๐น๐ ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฎ๐น๐น๐ฒ๐ป๐ด๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐ณ๐ถ๐น๐บ'๐ ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐น๐ฒ๐ฎ๐๐ฒ
The order came on a lawsuit filed by Ganguly and Luv Films LLP, which holds contractual rights to develop an authorised biographical film based on the former captain's life and cricketing career.
The plaintiffs alleged that Doosra commercially exploited identifiable incidents, achievements and attributes associated with Ganguly without obtaining his permission.
Their objections centred on references to India's historic victory over England in the 2002 NatWest Series final at Lord's, particularly Ganguly's shirtless celebration on the Lord's balcony following the win.
Ganguly and Luv Films had sought to restrain the theatrical, digital and other releases of the film, besides challenging promotional material that allegedly used his identity, likeness and memorable cricketing moments without authorisation.
The plaintiffs argued that the film's promotional campaign capitalised on Ganguly's reputation and could create an impression that he was associated with or had endorsed the project.
๐๐ผ๐๐ฟ๐ ๐ฒ๐ ๐ฎ๐บ๐ถ๐ป๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐ฝ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐๐ผ๐ป๐ฎ๐น๐ถ๐๐ ๐ฟ๐ถ๐ด๐ต๐๐
During the proceedings, the court examined whether the film merely depicted historical cricketing events or commercially exploited Ganguly's identity and public persona.
Justice Karia observed that the film was not confined to portraying historical events and that the use of Ganguly's identity appeared to have been intended to generate commercial interest.
The court found that the plaintiffs had established a prima facie case concerning the unauthorised exploitation of Ganguly's personality and publicity rights.
However, it considered the practical difficulties of removing the disputed portions from a film that had already been released.
The court had earlier declined to stay the film's theatrical release on October 22. On October 23, it sought a response from the filmmakers and asked them to arrange a screening to enable judicial examination of the disputed content.
The latest directions allow the film to continue screening, subject to compliance with the conditions imposed by the court.
The order concerns interim relief and does not constitute a final determination of the lawsuit.
๐๐๐๐ต๐ผ๐ฟ๐ถ๐๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐ฏ๐ถ๐ผ๐ฝ๐ถ๐ฐ ๐ฎ๐ ๐ฐ๐ฒ๐ป๐๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐ผ๐ณ ๐ฑ๐ถ๐๐ฝ๐๐๐ฒ
According to the lawsuit, Ganguly entered into an agreement with Luv Films on August 5, 2021, granting the production company exclusive rights to develop, produce and commercially exploit audiovisual content based on his life, experiences and cricketing achievements.
Luv Films stated that it had made substantial investments in an authorised biographical project titled Dada โ The Sourav Ganguly Story, scheduled for release on May 14, 2027.
The plaintiffs alleged that the unauthorised use of Ganguly's personality in Doosra could undermine the commercial value of the rights acquired by Luv Films.
The controversy arose after the trailer and promotional campaign for Doosra were launched on October 12.
According to the plaintiffs, the promotional material prominently referred to Ganguly's captaincy and India's victory in the 2002 NatWest Series final, including his celebration after the match.
The lawsuit also cited an interview given by director Abhinay Deo on October 13, in which he discussed how the NatWest final and milestones from Ganguly's career had influenced the film's fictional character, Tara.
๐๐ถ๐น๐บ๐บ๐ฎ๐ธ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ณ๐ฒ๐ป๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐ณ๐ถ๐ฐ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป๐ฎ๐น ๐๐๐ผ๐ฟ๐
The filmmakers maintained that Doosra was a fictional narrative about a middle-class girl from Rajasthan who draws inspiration from cricketing events and was not intended to serve as a biographical film about Ganguly.
They also argued that permissions had been obtained from the Board of Control for Cricket in India and the England and Wales Cricket Board to use footage from the 2002 NatWest Series.
Their defence distinguished the use of historical sporting footage from the commercial exploitation of an individual's personality rights.
The court nevertheless imposed safeguards to ensure that audiences were informed that Ganguly had not authorised the use of his persona in the film.
Advocates Gitika Aggarwal, Jaya Goyal, Arjun Aggarwal, Manpreet Kaur and Mehak represented Ganguly and Luv Films. The lawsuit was instituted through Neo Juris Advocates & Solicitors.
The case has brought renewed attention to the legal boundaries governing the use of public figures' identities and achievements in films, particularly where historical events are incorporated into fictional narratives.
The proceedings will continue, with the filmmakers required to comply with the court's directions while the underlying dispute over Ganguly's personality and publicity rights remains pending.