Aditya Dhar wins interim relief in Dhurandhar case, Santosh Kumar restrained by High Court

The Bombay High Court on Wednesday passed an interim order restraining filmmaker Santosh Kumar from repeating allegations against director Aditya Dhar over the script of Dhurandhar The Revenge. The court observed that Dhar had made a prima facie case seeking relief against what he described as defamatory claims.

The matter was heard by Justice Arif S Doctor, who directed that Kumar should not reiterate the statements mentioned in the suit or any similar remarks until the next hearing. The order will remain in effect till April 16. The court stated, "Until the next date, the defendant (Kumar) shall be restrained from repeating words set out in the suit, and all other words of a similar nature. Issue notice," making it clear that the restriction applies specifically to Kumar.

The dispute arose after the release of Dhurandhar The Revenge, when Kumar publicly alleged that the film’s script had been copied from his work. In response, Dhar issued a legal notice denying the claims and asked Kumar to stop making such statements. With no response received, Dhar approached the High Court through DSK Legal.

Senior Advocate Birendra Saraf, appearing for Dhar, argued that the repeated allegations were causing harm to the filmmaker’s professional standing. He told the court, "All I seek is, if he has a grievance about infringement, he himself said I am going to initiate legal proceedings. He can initiate legal proceedings and I will respond to the same appropriately. But in the meanwhile, he can't use such language."

After considering the submissions, the court noted that the statements in question had been circulated widely. It then granted limited interim relief, observing, "In my view, the plaintiff has made out a case for the grant of limited ad interim relief."

Dhurandhar The Revenge, starring Ranveer Singh, was originally planned as a single project along with its sequel before being split due to its length. The film also features Arjun Rampal, R Madhavan and Sanjay Dutt. The sequel has reported strong box office performance in India and overseas markets.