BOLLY TO TOLLY: Poran Jai Joliya Re

Calcutta High Court has stopped the screening of Poran Jai Joliya Re on grounds of plagiarism.

The division bench of Justice P.C. Ghosh and Justice I.P. Mukerji on Tuesday upheld the interim order passed by Justice Nadira Patheriya that the Tollywood potboiler produced by Shree Venkatesh Films was a lift from Vipul Shah’s Bollywood biggie Namastey London.

Poran Jai..., starring Dev and Subhashree, cannot be screened from Friday, the bench ordered.

This was in response to an appeal filed by Shree Venkatesh Films against the interim order that found them guilty of violating provisions of the Copyright Act.

“The court order hasn’t been delivered to us yet. But yes, there will be no screening of Poran Jai... from Friday. We will soon decide whether to move the Supreme Court,” said Mahendra Soni of Shree Venkatesh Films.

The mood in the Shah camp was, of course, gung-ho. “The court has delivered a landmark judgment. I wanted to make a case out of this and I am happy that justice has come. Everybody who is trying to infringe on copyright will stop that now. This will now be the benchmark judgment that will be used in all copyright infringement cases,” said Shah.

The division bench had earlier allowed the Poran Jai... producers to continue the screening but appointed two special officers to collect the proceeds from ticket sales and keep them in a nationalised bank. After Tuesday’s order, screening is banned from Friday and the amount collected by the special officers will be under their supervision till the disposal of the main suit before Justice Patheriya.