19 August,2026 03:04 PM IST | Mumbai | mid-day online correspondent
Indra Kumar and Dhamaal poster. Pics via X and IMDb
A legal dispute over the distribution and copyright of the hit comedy Dhamaal has landed director Indra Kumar and producer Ashok Thakeria in the middle of an alleged Rs 1.50 crore fraud case. An FIR was registered against the duo on August 17 following a complaint by Vikas Baldevraj Sahni, the owner of Mumbai-based film distribution company Grand Master.
According to NDTV, the complaint entailed that Sahni's company entered into an agreement with Maruti International, associated with Thakeria, on October 15, 2019. The deal allegedly involved the worldwide distribution, digital rights and copyrights of Dhamaal, the 2007 comedy starring Sanjay Dutt, Arshad Warsi, Jaaved Jaaferi and Riteish Deshmukh, for Rs 1.50 crore.
Sahni has alleged that he was assured during the transaction that the film's rights had not previously been sold to another party. However, he later discovered that the lifetime OTT and digital rights had allegedly already been sold to Shemaroo Entertainment in 2015, four years before the agreement with Grand Master.
The complaint further claims that in January 2020, a representative of Maruti International informed Sahni that an existing agreement with Shemaroo covered the film's rights for its lifetime. A supplementary agreement was subsequently signed between Maruti International and Shemaroo in October 2020, according to the complaint.
Grand Master had also applied for cinematograph copyright in March 2020. The complainant claims that the Copyright Office subsequently issued the company a copyright certificate, CF-5230/2023, on April 28, 2023.
Sahni has told the police that his company possesses the original negative and documents forming what he describes as a chain of title for the film. He has also alleged that the rights dispute affected Grand Master's dealings with other digital platforms, resulting in losses running into crores.
The case has been registered under Sections 318(4) and 3(5) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) against Ashok Navalkumar Thakeria and Indra Kumar. The provisions relate to cheating and acts carried out by multiple persons with a common intention.
The police have begun investigating the allegations and are examining the agreements and documents submitted by the complainant. At this stage, the allegations remain part of the complaint and have not been established by a court.
Released in 2007, Dhamaal became a popular comedy and eventually spawned sequels, including Double Dhamaal and Total Dhamaal. The franchise remains one of the recognisable comedy series in Hindi cinema. The franchise's latest film was Dhamaal 4.
