Hyderabad: National Award-winning filmmaker Bhavna Talwar had announced that she is gearing up to direct a biopic of late iconic filmmaker-actor Guru Dutt in September 2020. The filmmaker, however, is now facing obstacles as Dutt's daughter Nina Memon has sent her a legal notice for not seeking permission before commencing work on the biopic.
According to a webloid report, Nina, who is the only surviving child to Dutt and wife Geeta Dutt, is the sole copyright owner of the late actor's life story hence she sent a legal notice to Talwar. The notice states that if made, Talwar's film will be construed as "infringement of copyright under the Copyright Act." The webloid also quoted Kaleem Khan, spokesperson of Memon, saying, "Sana Memon has not assigned any rights to a third party, production house or studio."
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On the other hand, Talwar told the webloid that she is not aware of any legal notice sent by Nina. The filmmaker who spent seven years writing and then curating the script for Pyaasa Talwar has said that she wouldn’t want anyone in Dutt family to be unhappy about the film. She, however, assured that Pyaasa will be made as the information that she has referred to is available in public domain and doing so she shouldn't be worrying worried about copyright infringement claims.
"I have delivered the script, and this is a film that I will make. I am sure the producer, Sheetal Talwar, will do what is right and will reach out to the family at some point," the webloid quoted Talwar as saying.
At the time of announcing the biopic, Bhavana who bagged National Award for the Pankaj Kapur-starrer film Dharm in 2007, had said that she intends to capture the transformation of Guru Dutt from a telephone operator to a prominent figure of Indian cinema.
