Shekhar Kapur Mulls Legal Action Against Makers Of 'Mr. India' Remake

Shekhar Kapur, who helmed original 'Mr. India', found it disrespectful for the new makers for not given him the "creative rights" for the remake.

Mumbai: After actress Sonam Kapoor, filmmaker Shehkar Kapur, who is known for helming the iconic film "Mr India", has expressed his disappointment over the news of a remake of the movie by director Ali Abbas Zafar. Shekhar also hinted that he may take a legal action against the makers of the remake. Director Kunal Kohli on Saturday took to Twitter and wrote: "Javed Akhtar won a hard fought battle for the rights of lyricists and writers. Its time we did the same?"

@Javedakhtarjadu won a hard fought battle for the rights of lyricists & writers. Its time we did the same?

— kunal kohli (@kunalkohli) February 22, 2020

Responding to Kohli's tweet, Shekhar tweeted: "Yes. It's time to test this legally... Let's do it."

Yes. It’s time to test this legally .. let’s do it .. https://t.co/b0GXWYWvks

— Shekhar Kapur (@shekharkapur) February 22, 2020

Not only this, Shekhar on Sunday took to social media and posted late actor Amrish Puri's still from "Mr India", in which Puri played the popular villain Mogambo. Reacting on how Mogambo would have reacted to the news of the film's remake if he was alive, Shekhar tweeted: "Kya Kaha? Mr India 2 ? Is duniya mein koi aur Mogambo bhi hai?"

Kya Kaha? Mr India 2 ?? Is duniya mein koi aur Mogambo bhi hai ?? pic.twitter.com/Q0Bk6B8Vlq

— Shekhar Kapur (@shekharkapur) February 23, 2020

Shekhar also found it disrespectful for the new makers for not given him the "creative rights" for the remake. "We sit with writers from day one, but are not the writers. Help actors hone performances but are not actors. Develop and create visual language of film. Slave hours over editing consoles. Directors lead and inspire every aspect of a film and have no creative rights? #MrIndia," Shekhar added.

We sit with writers from day one, but are not the writer. Help actors hone performances but are not actors. Develop and create visual language of film. Slave hours over editing consoles. Directors lead and inspire every aspect of a film and have no creative rights? #MrIndia

— Shekhar Kapur (@shekharkapur) February 22, 2020

Earlier this week Ali Abbas Zafar had announced the remake of the iconic Hindi film. Zafar had tweeted: "Excited to partner with @ZeeStudios_ for an epic trilogy #MrIndia! It is a huge responsibility to carry forward an iconic character loved by everyone. Currently, working on the script, no actor has been locked till now. Once we lock the first draft of the script, casting begins!"

Excited to partner with @ZeeStudios_ for an epic trilogy #MrIndia! It is a huge responsibility to carry forward an iconic character loved by everyone. Currently, working on the script, no actor has been locked till now. Once we lock the first draft of the script, casting begins!

— ali abbas zafar (@aliabbaszafar) February 17, 2020

Released in 1987, "Mr India" featured Anil Kapoor and late Sridevi in the lead roles.