The fight goes on for the glory of ‘Maula Jatt’
LAHORE: The battle for illustrious film Maula Jatt continues, as friends and partners bicker over ownership of the original 1979 flick.
For a while, Sarwar Bhatti has claimed sole proprietorship of the original Maula Jatt. He filed a series of lawsuits in the Lahore High Court against the producer of The Legend of Maula Jatt, Ammara Hikmat and director Bilal Lashari.
Sarwar has also submitted an application for a stay order to prevent the director from using the character, name and dialogues – claiming it will violate intellectual property law. He also claims that Maula Jatt is being remade illegally and owns all copyrights related to the imminent film.
PHOTO: PUBLICITY
In an ongoing legal war, a second party has come forward claiming rights over the Punjabi classic. The film, starring Sultan Rahi and Mustafa Qureshi, was reportedly produced by 6 partners that made up the Bahu Films Corporation, of which Chaudhry Jamil and Sarwar Bhatti were the main investors.
Chaudhry’s son, Saim Jamil’s legal team addressed a press conference on Thursday, to clarify that Bhatti is ‘not’ the sole investor of the film.
“In a tragic turn of events, Chaudhry Muhammad Jamil was murdered in 1996 after which Sarwar Bhatti made a few attempts to get ownership transfer papers signed by his widow but she refused to give in,” Saim’s legal counsel, advocate Almas Jovindahl said at the press briefing.
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“Sarwar Bhatti has been misrepresenting the facts and concealing documents from the court by stating that he is sole owner of the film. When in fact the movie like many others produced during that time, were the property of Bahu Films Corporation, which was a partnership concern.”
He also questioned Sarwar’s claim of the film making so much money they had to pay billions in taxes. “If that was the case then why did Jamil’s family not get any of those earnings,” asked Jovindah.
The plot thickens
When approached for a comment on the matter, Sarwar Bhatti said that the Jamil family is being backed by the producers of The Legend of Maula Jatt to serve vested interests.
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“All of these claims are false. I separated myself and my business from Chaudhry Jameel in 1984, which was ten years before he was murdered,” Sarwar told The Express Tribune.
“These are just cheap tricks that Bilal Lashari and Ammara Hikmat are using to corner me. But I will share the further relevant details in court where my case against this new film is already under process,” said Sarwar.
Who will win the legal battle of the legendary Maula Jatt? Only time will tell.
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