Bombay High Court revives film producer Sunil Darshan’s appeal against actor sonny del were locked in a decade-long legal battle over their shelved film Good Morning India.The court on Friday reinstated the producer’s appeal against the 2015 single-judge verdict while charging Rs 15,000 as fees from the film-maker. According to Live and Law, the 2015 order dismissed an arbitration petition filed by Darshan and actor Sunny Deol, in which each had filed claims against the other in a dispute related to the shelved film.
Sunil Darshan takes legal route at Sunny Deol exit
Darshan’s appeal was reportedly dismissed because his representatives were not present at multiple hearings. However, the producers subsequently made an interim application seeking to reinstate the appeal, which the court has now granted.According to the Hindustan Times, the dispute dates back to 2008, when Del agreed to appear on “Good Morning India” and was allotted 40 shooting days for the project. However, according to Darshan, the actor initially rejected the script and later approved a revised version, but then failed to cooperate with the production and eventually quit the film.The producer claimed that he had taken a loan of Rs 3 crore to finance the project and was seeking Rs 20 crore in damages for the same. He claimed “serious economic losses” had been caused by Del’s failure to live up to the agreement.
CJI rejects Sunil Darshan’s Rs 20-crore claim
The matter was referred to arbitration by the former Chief Justice of India, who in June 2011 dismissed Darshan’s claim of Rs 20 crore and directed Deol to pay Rs 12 lakh.Both sides challenged the award, with Darshan arguing that despite the arbitrator finding that Del had breached the agreement, his claim for damages was wrongly denied. Del, on the other hand, challenged the directive asking him to pay Rs 12 lakh.
Single bench dismissed petition
In April 2015, the single judge dismissed the petitions of both parties and upheld the arbitral award. The court also held that the arbitrator was justified in directing Del to pay Rs 12 lakh, citing clear findings that the actor had breached the agreement.The parties then moved the Bombay High Court challenging the 2015 order.
“Tang 3” controversy
This update comes in the wake of the controversy surrounding Ranveer Singh’s exit from Farhan Akhtar’s Don 3. The filmmaker made headlines after claiming that his production house had invested around Rs 45 crore in pre-production costs, including advance hotel/travel bookings and location scouting, and sought compensation.
