A case has been registered against director Indra Kumar and producer Ashok Thakeria for allegedly cheating a leading distribution company in the name of selling the rights of the film 'Dhamaal'.
The FIR was lodged by Vikas Baldevraj Sahni (53), owner of Andheri West-based film distribution company Grand Master, who alleged that he was defrauded of Rs 1.50 crore by Indra Kumar and Ashok Thakeria of Maruti International.
The complainant alleged that Maruti International caused huge financial losses to him by committing fraud in the name of selling the distribution, digital and copyright rights of the film.
The case was registered under Sections 318(4) and 3(5) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) on August 17, 2026, against Ashok Navalkumar Thakeria and Indra Kumar. Police have started an investigation into the matter.
Vikas claimed that his company, Grand Master, had an official agreement with Maruti International on October 15, 2019, under which the worldwide distribution rights and copyrights of the superhit film 'Dhamaal', starring Sanjay Dutt, Arshad Warsi and Riteish Deshmukh, were purchased permanently for Rs 1.50 crore.
According to the complaint, during the deal, the producers assured Grand Master that the rights of the film had not been sold to any other third party.
However, it was later allegedly revealed that the accused had sold the lifetime OTT and digital rights of the film to Shemaroo Entertainment Limited in 2015, four years before the assurance given to the complainant.
In January 2020, Ashok Thakeria of Maruti International allegedly visited the exhibitor's office and informed them that the company already had an agreement with Shemaroo Entertainment Limited, under which all rights had been granted to Shemaroo for their lifetime.
On October 29, 2020, Maruti International entered into a supplementary agreement with Shemaroo Entertainment Limited, under which the producer would reserve rights for only one satellite channel.
On March 20, 2020, Grand Master applied for the cinematograph copyright, for which the company claimed to possess a chain of titles.
The Copyright Office subsequently issued copyright certificate CF-5230/2023 to Grand Master on April 28, 2023.
The complainant has claimed that he possesses the government copyright and original negative of the film and has submitted several documents to the police to support his ownership claim.
He further alleged that because of the accused's actions, Grand Master's business dealings with other major digital platforms were cancelled, resulting in losses of crores of rupees to the company.
Police are investigating the allegations.
