Producer Firoz Nadiadwala, aged 62, has lodged a complaint at the Amboli police station in Mumbai regarding the copyright and remake rights of the movie ‘Hera Pheri’, originally based on the Malayalam film ‘Ramji Rao Speaking’. Nadiadwala asserts that he had legally acquired the remake rights for the story in Hindi and other languages (excluding South Indian languages) for Rs 4,50,000 from Suresh Kumar Singhal of M/s Compact Disc India Limited back in 2000.
Alleging that certain individuals conspired to infringe upon his legal rights and extort large sums of money from him, Nadiadwala mentioned in his complaint that just a week before the film’s release in 2000, he was coerced into paying money under duress to avoid defamation and losses, despite a court-issued stay order in his favor.
According to the complaint, a fresh conspiracy has surfaced after 25 years, with Nadiadwala claiming that the original film’s owners (Siddique K. L. and M. Paul Michael) resold the rights to ‘Gopala Pillai Vijayakumar’ (M/s Seven Arts International) for a meager Rs 3 lakh on May 12, 2022, despite being aware of the prior rights sale. Nadiadwala further revealed that in December 2024, he received a legal notice declaring his film ‘Phir Hera Pheri’ as unauthorized, with demands for Rs 60 lakh and a 25% share of the film’s profits from the accused parties.
Accusing the opposing parties of impeding the public listing process of his company, Nadiadwala expressed concern over the misuse of renowned actors’ names like Akshay Kumar, Suniel Shetty, and Paresh Rawal to circulate false information about him, tarnishing his business reputation. The police have initiated an investigation into the matter and are expected to summon the involved parties.
