HC Directs 'Chhapaak' Makers To Give Credit To Acid Attack Survivor's Lawyer

The Delhi High Court directed the makers of 'Chhapaak' to give credit to a lawyer, who represented Laxmi Agarwal on whose life the film is based.

New Delhi: The Delhi High Court on Saturday (January 11) directed the makers of Deepika Padukone's 'Chhapaak' to give credit to a lawyer, who represented acid attack survivor Laxmi Agarwal on whose life the film is based, for inputs she shared with them. Justice Prathiba M Singh said the changes be made in the movie slides in multiplexes by January 15. The court pronounced the order on a plea by Fox Star Studio, producer of the movie, challenging a trial court's Thursday order asking them to acknowledge the contribution of advocate Aparna Bhat. While hearing the plea on Friday, the court had asked the makers as to why they have not acknowledged the lawyer for inputs she shared with them. To this, senior advocate Sandeep Sethi, appearing for Meghna Gulzar, said there was no contract between the parties and seeking inputs did not confer any legal right on her to be acknowledged. Senior advocate Rajiv Nayar, who represented Fox Star Studios, said the trial court did not hear them before passing an order and an ad-interim ex-parte injunction was passed which is unusual. Senior advocate Sanjay Parikh, who appeared for Aparna Bhat, said that she had fought the case for Laxmi pro-bono and was not seeking any publicity and she was approached by Meghna Gulzar to get some authenticity in the movie. The trial court, on Bhat's plea, directed that 'Chhapaak' carry the line "Aparna Bhat continues to fight cases of sexual and physical violence against women during the screening of the film". The film producer challenged the trial court's order before the high court saying it was passed one day before the release of the film and if not vacated or modified, it will cause grave injustice and irreparable harm. The producer sought setting aside of the trial court's injunction order, saying it was passed without any notice or summons issued to them and they were not given an opportunity to contest it. Bhat, in her plea before the trial court, said that despite representing Laxmi in courts for several years and helping in the film's making, she was not given credit in 'Chhapaak'. She had said the filmmakers took her help in the entire process of writing and shooting the movie, but did not give the credit. 'Chhapaak' co-starring Vikrant Massey hit the silver screens on January 10. The Meghna Gulzar directorial has received good reviews from the critics and fans. Fans have lauded Deepika Padukone for taking a challenging role and doing full justice to it. Despite the controversies surrounding Deepika's JNU visit, the film has managed to impress the audience. Bollywood celebs including Bhumi Pednekar, Yami Gautam and Riteish Deshmukh have showered the film with praises. 'Chhapaak' has been declared tax free in Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh. MP government has also announced that it will honour Deepika at the  International Indian Film Academy Awards (IIFA) 2020. Watch this space for more updates! (With inputs added in PTI copy)