Bhavna Talwar receives legal notice from Guru Dutt’s daughter over biopic rights

Many directors have wanted to re-tell the story of the late great filmmaker Guru Dutt, known for his films ‘Pyaasa’ (1957) and ‘Kaagaz Ke Phool’ (1959), however they have not been successful in their attempts. Bhavna Talwar on the other hand looks likely to make this possible, but faces a legal challenge from Dutt’s daughter.

Reported on Mid-day, Neena (Sana) Memon the only surviving child of Dutt has sent a legal notice to Talwar for copyright infringement stating she is the only sole owner of her father’s life story. Memon’s spokesperson, Kaleem Khan, said that this film is an “infringement of copyright under the Copyright Act” and that “Sana Memon has not assigned any rights to a third party, production house or studio.”

When approached about the legal notice, Talwar said, “I am not aware of any legal notice sent by her.”  Talwar goes on to explain that the film will be celebrating Dutt’s early career success, “The film won’t portray [any incident or person] incorrectly, and one wouldn’t want anyone in his family to be unhappy about it. The information that I have referred to is available in public domain. So, I am not worried about [copyright infringement]. 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.”