Release of Amitabh Bachchan’s Jhund Stalled over Copyright Row

Amitabh Bachchan starrer sports drama Jhund, based on the life of Vijay Barse, the founder of NGO Slum Soccer, was scheduled to release this month on Amazon Prime Video, but the release has now been stalled over copyright row.

The Supreme Court refused to lift the stay on Jhund and dismissed an appeal against the Telangana High Court order which had stalled the movie’s screening over copyright infringement. 

A bench of Chief Justice S A Bobde and Justices A S Bopanna and V Ramasubramanian dismissed the appeal filed by petitioner Super Cassettes Industries (T Series) against the October 19 order of the high court which had refused to interfere with the trial court order restraining the release of the movie. “The special leave petitions are dismissed. As a sequel to the above, pending interlocutory applications, if any, stand disposed of,” the bench said in its order.

Jhund is based on the life of Vijay Barse, the founder of NGO Slum Soccer, and was scheduled to release this month on Amazon Prime. Earlier, the film was scheduled to be released in May but it was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Trouble aroused after Hyderabad-based short-film maker Nandi Chinni Kumar alleged copyright infringement against the filmmakers, who have refuted the allegation. Kumar has said that amount of Rs 1.3 crore was agreed between the parties but now they are not adhering to the agreement.