Maula Jatt feud: Round 3

Producer Faisal Rafi denies remaking the film.

KARACHI:

The ensuing confusion between Sarwar Bhatti, Bilal Lashari and Faisal Rafi pertaining to the copyrights of the Maula Jatt franchise is getting interesting with every passing moment.

Earlier, Sarwar Bhatti, the producer of the original Maula Jatt films, had accused filmmakers Bilal Lashari and Faisal Rafi of possible copyrights infringement, if they were to produce their respective remakes. However, there were no formal announcements made by Rafi about his remake.



Rafi, the Chief Operating Officer (COO) and producer at The Crew Motion Pictures clarified his stance on the issue by telling The Express Tribune, “I have no perspective on the Maula Jatt remakes since it is not something that I am working on.” He elaborated that he held two private meetings with Bhatti but nothing materialised: therefore he ultimately decided to drop the project. “These meetings [for Maula Jatt] were confidential and by speaking about them to the press, Mr Bhatti has shown a lack of professionalism and maturity,” said Rafi.

Faisal Rafi who will be writing and co-producing the movie Bloody Nasreen, an adaptation of Shahan Zaidi’s graphic novel, remarked that the ideas of remakes do not appeal to him. Despite backing away from the project, he said that copyrights would not have been an obstacle if he were to proceed with his remake. “Since after Maula Jatt about three Maula Jatt films were made, I don’t think any party has any rights to any material or the characters. Since I am not working on anything of the sort, it’s not really my concern,” explained Rafi.

He, however, did not rule out the possibility of making a Gandasa film and has even outlined a roadmap to ensure he faces no such obstacles whenever he adapts the story by Ahmad Nadeem Qasmi. “The only thing under consideration for the distant future is a possible film version of the short story Gandasa, by Ahmed Nasim Qasmi, and if that happens we will obviously seek permission from his daughter and son before announcing anything to anyone,” exclaimed Rafi.



Bhatti, the chairman of Bahoo Films, the production house which produced the Maula Jatt films, had earlier stated that Bilal Lashari was not covered on the legal front, stating, “I met Lashari and have told him that he is not making the film legally. I informed him that whoever has invested in your project will suffer because you have not bought the rights to Maula Jatt from me.”

Earlier, speaking to The Express Tribune, Lashari responded to these accusations of copyright infringement saying that he is legally covered for the film as Nasir Adeeb, the writer of the Maula Jatt films, has the right to  the films and he is part of their team.

When called for confirmation Bhatti remarked, “An employee will never have the ownership of his boss’ property. The rights to Maula Jatt are on my name and even the censor certificate is addressed to me. Nasir Adeeb worked as a script-writer for me and he was paid for that; he cannot claim ownership of the Maula Jatt franchise.”

Published in The Express Tribune, November 12^th, 2014.

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