Drishyam 2 makers assure Bombay HC they won't shoot Hindi remake till copyright suit is pending

Production house Panorama Studios International, which had acquired the Hindi remake rights of the Malayalam hit film Drishyam 2, assured Bombay High Court it would not begin shooting till the copyright suit filed against it is pending. Viacom 18 Media Pvt Ltd had last week approached HC seeking an order restraining Panorama Studios International from producing any sequel to the movie in Hindi. Viacom, in its suit, alleged infringement of their copyright and sought recognition and adjudication of copyright and other rights in the production of the sequel in the Drishyam franchise, which includes a film on continuation from the previous story. Viacom also filed an application seeking interim relief by way of an injunction which was heard by Justice Gautam Patel on Wednesday. “The statement is that the defendants (Panorama) will not themselves or through any other person with whom they may have a contract or arrangement, begin shooting of the film in question i.e. a sequel to the film Drishyam,” the order said. The production house also accepts that if they take up any preparatory work, such as developing a treatment, script, screenplay or dialogue, this will be at their own risk and that they will not be entitled to claim any equities on that basis in the future, the HC further noted. The court posted the suit for further hearing on 18 June. Viacom, in its suit, said it had executed a Remake Rights Agreement with Wide Angle Creations and Raj Kumar Theatres Pvt Ltd by which it had copyright to produce new films by adapting the movie Drishyam. In 2017, Panorama Studios approached Viacom seeking to produce the prequel or sequel of the movie, but the proposal did not work out due to disagreement over terms.

Later, Viacom learnt Panorama had acquired the rights to remake the sequel of the movie, after which it approached HC.