Gangubai Kathiawadi: HC grants Alia Bhatt interim stay on defamation proceedings

Mumbai: According to media reports, the Bombay High Court has granted an interim stay on proceedings commenced by a local court against actor Alia Bhat and filmmaker Sanjay Leela Bhansali in connection with the film ‘Gangubai Kathiawadi’.

In its order of August 10, the HC granted an interim stay until the next hearing on September 7. The summons were issued by a metropolitan magistrate in March this year on a defamation complaint filed by Babuji Shah, who claimed to be the adopted son of Gangubai Kathiawadi, on whom the film is based.

The film stars Alia Bhatt as Gangubai, one of Mumbai’s most respected and powerful madams during the 1960s from Kamathipura, the red-light district. Mr. Shah claimed the movie was inspired by the novel ‘The Mafia Queens of Mumbai.’ The novel, according to Mr. Shah, has defamed Gangubai Kathiawadi, tarnished her reputation and violated her right to privacy.

Senior counsel Aabad Ponda, representing Bhat, Bhansali and his company, argued that they had no knowledge of Mr. Shah’s existence.

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On August 10, Justice Revati Mohite Dere issued a notice to Shah and scheduled the hearing for September 7 for the application filed by Ms. Bhat and Mr. Bhansali. ‘In the meantime, till the next date, the proceeding before the trial court, qua (with regard to) the applicants, is stayed,’ the court said.

Meanwhile, another HC bench did not grant a stay of the release of the movie. Shah had moved the HC seeking a stay on release of the movie and an order restraining the writers/publishers of the novel from creating any third-party rights on Gangubai Kathiawadi.

On July 30, Justice Nitin Sambre, in his order, rejected the application, noting that any content of defamatory nature dies with the individual. ‘It is for the appellant (Shah) to demonstrate that he is the adoptive son of deceased Gangubai Kathiawadi, which he has prima facie failed to do,’ Justice Sambre said.

It was originally scheduled for release in September 2020, but the COVID-19 pandemic delayed its release. The makers announced earlier this year that the film will be released in theatres in 2021.