Poet Mithilesh Baria demands credit for ‘Zero’ tagline

This week saw the much awaited announcement of Aanand L Rai’s forthcoming film ‘Zero’, starring Shah Rukh Khan, Anushka Sharma and Katrina Kaif. The teaser created a lot of excitement, but there was a small oversight on the filmmakers part, causing a bit of a stir.

According to Bombay Times, in the teaser Khan has chosen to use a quote from a renowned poet as part of the tagline – “Ticket liye baithe hai log meri zindagi ki, tamasha bhi pura hona chahiya” (People have purchased the tickets to watch my life story; the drama should also be complete). This was originally composed by Mithilesh Baria, but it was later found that Baria was not given credit.

Baria who was notified by his fans, says he isn’t upset, but would like the mistake to be rectified. “This appears to be a lapse on their part. But when the project is of this stature, all a writer wants is to be credited for his creation,”  said Baria who continued to say, “It appears that the line is a part of the film’s narrative, not a mere tweet. So, I hope they give me my due credit.”

Baria pointed out that Rai got in touch with him as soon as he was aware. “He assured me that it was a mistake, and he would do his best to rectify it. I am not sure how he will do so. Will Shah sa’ab put out another tweet crediting me? Rai-ji seemed like an affable man. I hope they are fair.”

‘Zero’ will be directed by Rai and co-produced with Red Chillies Entertainment. The film is slated to release in December 2018.