On Thursday, the Delhi High Court rejected a suit from former India captain Sourav Ganguly to prevent the October 23 theatrical release of the movie “Doosra.” Orally, a vacation bench presided over by Justice Dinesh Bhatt noted that the petitioner’s attempt to stop the release was outweighed by the filmmakers. Even as the movie moved closer to its planned premiere, the court said it would hear the case again on Friday, leaving room for additional arguments.
A legal test known as “balance of convenience” is used by courts to determine whether to grant a preliminary injunction by assessing the possible harm to the defendant if the injunction is granted and to the plaintiff if it is denied. The case was scheduled for hearing by the court on Friday.
In addition to Ganguly, another complainant in the case is Luv Films LLP, which is making a biography about the former cricket captain. The senior attorney representing the filmmakers gave assurances that “Doosra” was not a biography and that the appropriate permissions were obtained for the use of certain plaintiff-related footage.
The case was brought jointly by Ganguly and Luv Films LLP, a production company working on a different biopic of the former cricket captain. Claims that “Doosra” infringed on Ganguly’s personality rights and commercial interests associated with his name and cricket career—specifically, his leadership during India’s 2002 NatWest Series victory and the famous shirtless celebration from Lord’s balcony—were at the heart of the legal case.
In response, the lawyers for the filmmakers argued that “Doosra” was not a biographical film and that all required permissions had been obtained to use particular footage in the production. They contended that Ganguly was unable to assert personality rights over 2002 NatWest Series clips because those rights belonged to the BCCI or its authorized rights holders rather than the specific players in the video.
