Lawsuit Filed Against Akshay Kumar Multi-starrer Mission Mangal Over Plagiarism

After starring in multiple biopics and social awareness movies, Akshay Kumar will once again star in yet another story based on the real-life incident. It was announced recently that Akshay will be collaborating with Pad Man director R. Balki again for Mission Mangal. The film is based on India’s 2013 space programme of Mangalyaan mission and will be co-produced by Fox Star Studios and Cape Of Good Films. It was already known that Vidya Balan will be the leading lady alongside Akshay. Now, we hear that the makers have been slapped with a lawsuit.

US-based filmmaker Radha Bharadwaj has filed a complaint in Mumbai to halt the production of Mission Mangal. She has alleged that the film infringes the copyright of her original screenplay which she had shared with Atul Kasbekar in 2016. Atul Kasbekar’s Ellipsis Entertainment had reportedly shared the script with one of their clients, Vidya Balan who is currently starring in this film.

Radha Bharadwaj had registered her script with US Copyright Office in 2016 for Indian and the US market. Her lawyer Srishti Ojha has claimed that there were several ways to tell the Mangalyaan mission story but it was her client’s idea to tell the story of the women engineers.

Radha Bharadwaj was set to work with Atul Kasbekar’s company and was trying to find financing for the same. His company had reportedly signed a nondisclosure agreement that prohibited them from sharing the script with anyone without Radha Bharadwaj’s consent. The lawsuit also cites that an email was exchanged from Kasbekar’s team in which they admitted of violating the contract and sharing the script with Vidya Balan.

While the film was announced recently, Radha feels that Akshay Kumar, Fox Star Studios and US  partners might have not been aware of the origin of the project. But, she said that now that they are aware of the scenario, she expects them to act honorably. She feels that the production house is rushing the film to cripple her project.

Bollywood Hungama was the first to inform that Sharman Joshi and Nithya Menen were roped in for the film. Akshay recently announced the whole cast of the film which includes Kriti Kulhari, Taapsee Pannu and Sonakshi Sinha. Mission Mangal is set for August 15, 2019 release.


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