Anurag Kashyap calls out Pritish Nandy for 'extorting' Rs 1 crore over using 'Womaniya' as film title

Director Anurag Kashyap, who has been at loggerheads with Pritish Nandy over the title of his upcoming movie 'Womaniya', has now called out Nandy on Twitter accusing him of 'extorting a sum of Rs 1 crore' to allow him to use the said title for his movie. Not giving in to Nandy's demands, Kashyap changed the title of his movie to Saand Ki Aankh which he had originally announced as Womaniya, the term which Kashyap holds the Intellectual Property Rights for his film Gangs of Wasseypur song name.

In a series of tweets, Kashyap slammed Nandy while commencing the shooting of the film by saying that it's Nandy's modus operandi to churn out money from filmmakers asking them to pay him Rs 1 crore as a sum to hand over the rights to use the title.

"So we have decided to not pay the extortion sum of 1 crore to @PritishNandy. He can sit on the title and warm it and hope for it to hatch into something worthwhile for his company for once.

"While we go ahead with what @taapsee @bhumipednekar @tushar1307 @nidhiparmar @RelianceEnt @prakashjha27 @ItsVineetSingh @realshooterdadi @shooterdadi want the film to be .."SAAND KI AANKH". I am sorry that i had faith in Mr. Nandy."

Kashyap had failed to register 'Womaniya' as the title of his upcoming film as the title was already registered under Pritish Nandy Communications Ltd and is also registered with the trade body, Indian Motion Pictures Producer's Association and Trade Mark registry, a Government of India body.

The filmmaker had earlier expressed his frustration over the title dispute with Pritish Nandy and the contradiction of the law to register the title for a movie.

"I don't even know if it's legal to do this. It's like encroaching on someone's property, then asking for an obscene amount of money to get off it. We have been politely requesting Nandy for the title for a very long time and have even consulted lawyers on the matter. We've been told that no one can hoard a title. But to get a censor certificate, the producers' association has to register the title which makes the law contradictory," Kashyap had told Mumbai Mirror.

Apart from Kashyap, Taapsee Pannu, director Anubhav Sinha and others too tweeted in support and wished him luck to proceed with the film's shooting with a brand new title called Saand Ki Aankh. The movie stars Taapsee Pannu and Bhumi Pednekar who will be seen playing the role of the oldest female sharp shooters in the world - Chandro Tomar and Prakashi.