Prakash Jha: I still own 50% of 'Gangaajal' profits
- IndiaGlitz, [Wednesday,September 16 2015]
Praksah Jha is hurt and is shocked by the claims of Phantom regarding the ownership of 'Gangaajal' title.
'Gangaajal' was released in 2003 starring Ajay Devgn and was made under Manmohan Shetty's banner Entertainment One India Limited.
During the interim period. Manmohan sold rights of his company to Reliance Big Entertainment Pvt Ltd and Phantom Films Pvt Ltd who now claim ownership over 'GangaaJal' and have forced Jha, who is co-producing the film's sequel starring Priyanka Chopra, to change name of the sequel. They have reportedly sent a notice to Jha demanding a share in the revenue of the film.
Prakash Jha has changed the title to 'Jai Gangaajal' but is shocked and hurt. Jha has expressed his feelings and is quoted saying "I am completely shocked on their claim that they own GangaaJal.All these years that I have spent on writing and making 'GangaaJal' and for all these years the film has remained in public domain, everyone would associate the film and the subject of 'GangaaJal' with only me. The legal notice is quite unethical. I called them and said, How can you use GangaaJal? You can't make GangaaJal with anyone else.
'I still own 50% of the profits that still come to me against any revenue. Apart from my emotional attachment to the film, I still told them that I would be happy to acknowledge your credit in the title for the sake of association and you showing your generosity in not creating legal hurdles for releasing the film. But they were adamant that they also wanted a share of the profit. They have nothing to do with GangaaJal 2, have not invested in it in any way, so where is the question of any profit? Also the film is not a sequel as it does not take the earlier film forward in any way. I have thus re-titled my film 'Jai GangaaJal'," he says, sounding hurt.