Writer Naresh Kathooria Issues Legal Notice to 'Dream Girl 2' Filmmakers, Know The Reason
5 Dariya News
03-Aug-2023
Naresh Kathooria, a well known screenwriter, producer and actor of the entertainment industry has been actively contributing to the sector and enjoys massive fanbase and recognition as a writer especially in Punjabi film industry. He has films like Carry On Jatta franchise, Babe Bhangra Paunde Ne, Yaar Mera Titliaan Warga, Lucky Di Unlucky Story, Chakk De Phatte and many more credited to his name as a story, screenplay or dialogue writer.
For the unversed, Dream Girl 2 is his upcoming project in which he has contributed as film story and screenplay writer but it has been recently witnessed that Naresh Kathooria has not been credited for the work he has done and all the credits have been independently transferred to the name of the name of the director Raaj Shaandilyaa. Following which, Naresh has sent a legal notice to the makers of the film.
Speaking about the legal notice, Naresh Kathooria mentioned all the proofs including the screenshots of Whatsapp chat with Mr. Vimal Lahoti which agreed to the mentioning of credits as:
Written By - Mr. Naresh Kathooria and Mr. Raaj Shaandilyaa;
Story By - Mr. Naresh Kathooria; and
Screenplay By - Mr. Raaj Shaandilyaa, Mr. Naresh Kathooria and Mr. Jay Basantu
But the team finalised the credits without giving credits to Naresh rather giving Written and directed by credits to Mr. Raaj and while cross checking it with him, Naresh warned on the Whatsapp itself to clearly objected to any kind of independent writing credit from being given to Mr. Raaj Shaandilyaa in relation to the film. He even conveyed Mr. Vimal Lahoti that his name needs to be written along with Mr. Raaj Shaandilyaa wherever there is any writing credit, including “Written By” credit, in the Film, trailer or any other promotional material of the Film to which Mr. Vimal agreed and sent revised credit proposal which said:
“Raaj Shaandilyaa’s Dream Girl 2
Written By - Mr. Naresh Kathooria and Mr. Raaj Shaandilyaa;
Story By - Mr. Naresh Kathooria and Mr. Raaj Shaandilyaa;
Screenplay By - Mr. Raaj Shaandilyaa, Mr. Naresh Kathooria and Mr. Jay Basantu Singh
Dialogues - Mr. Raaj Shaandilyaa;
Directed By - Mr. Raaj Shaandilyaa”
This proposal was agreed by Naresh Kathooria. But when the trailer came out on 1 August 2023, it left him in shock as there were credits mentioned in his name and the ones he agreed upon instead it said “Written and Directed By- Raaj Shaandilyaa”. Only “Written By” credit has been given to him, and a combined “Story and Screenplay By” credit is given jointly to him and Mr. Raaj Shaandilyaa. The name of Naresh Kathooria is also completely missing in the ‘Video Description’ below the Trailer on YouTube.
Following all this Naresh had to face irreparable and irreversible loss, harm, damage and prejudice to his reputation, goodwill, and standing in the film industry due to all these unlawful and knowing acts. This directly impacted his image as his Whatsapp was filled with messages from prominent personalities including Gippy Grewal, Smeep Kang, Jaswinder Bhalla, Ksshitij Chaudhary and many more to name who questioned him for his missing name from the credits as the writer of the film as he told everyone about.
After considering all the loss Naresh faced,he sent the legal notice mentioning everything above in detail and demanded immediate action within 24 hours. He demanded that:
The trailer which excludes his name from credits should be taken down from the YouTube and every social media site and add all the agreed credits under the agreement to the Trailer, in the Film, and in all promotional, advertising, publicity, and marketing materials of the Film across all platforms.
Further he demanded to withdraw “Written and Directed By” credit to Mr. Raaj Shaandilyaa from everywhere. Moving ahead, he asked to involve, invite and enable his presence/participation without any additional cost in all promotional activities. Next, to change the credits as agreed in the second proposal.
On the top of all, he further demanded 10 crores rupees as reasonable interim assessment of the damages for breach of the Writer Agreement, as well as for the damages suffered by him on every term. And last but not the least, he asked them to perform the terms and conditions set out in the Exclusive Writer Agreement.
All the above conditions have been demanded by Naresh Kathooria and if the makers of Dream Girl 2 fail to do so then they are surely going to face legal issues as said by Naresh Kathooria. Now, let’s see what happens next.