Here’s Why Chhapaak Makers Failed To Credit Laxmi Agarwal’s Lawyer!
News
oi-Swikriti Srivastava
By Pti
The
makers
of
Deepika
Padukone-starrer
Chhapaak,
based
on
acid
attack
survivor
Laxmi
Aggarwal,
told
the
Delhi
High
Court
on
Monday
that
the
victim's
lawyer
was
given
credit
in
the
film
screened
in
Indian
theatres.
However,
the
lawyer
was
not
given
credit
in
the
international
releases
of
the
movie
as
the
filmmakers
thought
it
had
to
be
done
here
only.
The
submission
was
made
before
Justice
Najmi
Waziri
on
behalf
of
the
film's
director
Meghna
Gulzar
and
producer
Fox
Star
Studios
against
whom
contempt
proceedings
have
been
moved
for
violation
of
the
court's
direction
to
give
credit
to
Aggarwal's
advocate
-
Aparna
Bhat
-
in
the
movie
which
released
on
January
10.
The
lawyers
appearing
for
Gulzar
and
Fox
Star
told
the
court
they
will
take
instructions
on
a
possible
solution
and
the
court,
thereafter,
listed
the
matter
for
hearing
on
January
29.
The
court
said
if
filmmakers
have
misconstrued
its
January
11
order,
to
give
credit
to
Bhat
for
inputs
she
shared
with
them,
it
will
be
looked
into
and
if
required,
they
will
have
to
make
amends.
Justice
Prathiba
M
Singh
had
on
January
11
directed
the
film's
director
and
producer
to
acknowledge
the
advocate
in
the
opening
credits
by
including
the
line
"Inputs
by
Ms
Aparna
Bhat,
the
lawyer
who
represented
Laxmi
Agarwal,
are
acknowledged".
The
lawyer
has
contended
that
the
film
was
screened
without
complying
with
the
direction
and
therefore,
contempt
of
court
proceedings
be
initiated
against
the
filmmakers.
The
January
11
order
had
come
on
a
plea
by
Fox
Star
Studios
challenging
a
trial
court's
order
asking
it
to
acknowledge
the
contribution
of
the
advocate.
Since
the
movie
had
been
released,
the
high
court
had
directed
that
the
film
will
not
be
shown
in
theatres
with
effect
from
January
15
without
adding
the
credit
line
for
advocate
to
digital
copies.
In
theatres
where
physical
copies
of
the
film
were
to
be
supplied
by
the
producer,
the
changes
had
to
be
carried
out
with
effect
from
January
18,
it
had
said.
The
film
producer's
advocate
had
said
the
trial
court
did
not
hear
them
before
passing
an
order
and
an
ad-interim
ex-parte
injunction
was
passed
which
is
unusual.
The
counsel
for
Bhat
had
said
she
had
fought
the
case
for
Laxmi
Agarwal
pro-bono
and
was
not
seeking
any
publicity
and
she
was
approached
by
Gulzar
to
get
some
authenticity
in
the
movie.
He
had
said
that
Bhat's
assistance
was
based
on
her
communication
with
Gulzar
that
her
contribution
would
be
acknowledged.
Bhat,
in
her
plea
before
the
trial
court,
had
said
that
despite
representing
Laxmi
in
courts
for
several
years
and
helping
in
the
making
of
the
film,
she
was
not
given
credit
in
the
movie.
She
had
said
the
filmmakers
took
her
help
in
the
entire
process
of
writing
and
shooting
the
movie,
but
did
not
give
her
credit.