Now Reading: Indra Kumar, Ashok Thakeria face Rs 1.5 crore Dhamaal rights fraud FIR
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Indra Kumar, Ashok Thakeria face Rs 1.5 crore Dhamaal rights fraud FIR
Indra Kumar, Ashok Thakeria face Rs 1.5 crore Dhamaal rights fraud FIR
Mumbai police have registered an FIR against director Indra Kumar and producer Ashok Thakeria for allegedly cheating a film distribution company of Rs 1.50 crore in a rights fraud related to the 2007 comedy 'Dhamaal'. The complaint was filed by Vikas Baldevraj Sahni, owner of Grand Master, who says the producers sold him the worldwide distribution and copyrights of the film in October 2019 for Rs 1.50 crore, while falsely assuring him those rights had not been sold to anyone else. Sahni alleges that the accused had already sold the lifetime OTT and digital rights to Shemaroo Entertainment Limited in 2015, four years before his deal.
The FIR, registered on August 17, 2026 under sections 318(4) and 3(5) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, claims that Maruti International later admitted the prior agreement with Shemaroo in January 2020. A supplementary agreement in October 2020 reportedly reserved only one satellite channel for the producer. Sahni states he obtained a government copyright certificate for the film in April 2023 and holds the original negative, but the disputed rights caused Grand Master's business deals with digital platforms to be cancelled, resulting in losses running into crores. Police have begun an investigation into the matter.
Both NDTV and the Assam Tribune report the same facts from the IANS wire, with the Assam Tribune adding the specific legal sections and dates of the FIR.
Indian Opinion Analysis
Both sources rely on the same police complaint and IANS copy, so framing is largely identical. The Assam Tribune names the sections of the BNS under which the case was registered and gives the exact date (August 17, 2026), adding a layer of legal precision. NDTV leads with the headline phrase 'fraud case' and the Rs 1.5 crore number, which is slightly more dramatic. Neither source questions the complainant's account or includes a response from the accused. The middle ground for a careful reader is that an FIR has been filed but no charges proved yet. The key next step is the police investigation itself, whose outcome will determine whether the allegations stand or collapse.
Coverage: 2 sources, 2 neutral
Sources (2): ndtv.com (neutral report), assamtribune.com (neutral report)
This story was synthesised by AI from the 2 sources linked above. Methodology and corrections.
Updated: this story now draws on 2 sources.
