The Bombay High Court returned film producer Sunil Darshan’s appeal against the actor Sunny Deol in a decade-long legal dispute over their shelved film ‘Good Morning India’.The court on Friday dismissed the producer’s appeal challenging a 2015 verdict, while imposing costs of Rs 15,000 on the filmmaker. According to Live and Law, the 2015 order dismissed arbitration petitions filed by Darshan and actor Sunny Deol, in which each had raised claims against the other, over their dispute related to the shelved film.
Sunil Darshan took the legal route to Sunny Deol’s exit
Darshan’s appeal was reportedly dismissed after his name did not appear during several hearings. However, the producer subsequently filed an interim application seeking to reinstate the appeal, which the court has now allowed.According to Hindustan Times, the dispute started in 2008, when Deol agreed to star in ‘Good Morning India’ and spent 40 days shooting for the project. However, according to Darshan, the actor initially rejected the script, later approved a revised version, but then failed to cooperate with the production before exiting the film.The producer admitted that he borrowed Rs 3 crore to finance the project, for which he demanded Rs 20 crore in damages. He alleged ‘heavy financial losses’ due to Deol’s failure to fulfill the agreement.
CJI rejected Sunil Darshan’s Rs 20 crore claim
The case went to arbitration before a former Chief Justice of India, who, in June 2011, rejected Darshan’s Rs 20 crore claim and ordered Deol to pay Rs 12 lakh.Both parties challenged the decision, with Darshan arguing that even though the arbitrator found Deol in breach of the agreement, his claim for damages was wrongly dismissed. On the other hand, Deol challenged the management who required him to pay Rs 12 lakh.
A single bench judge dismissed the petition
In April 2015, a bench judge dismissed both petitions and upheld the arbitral award. The court also affirmed that the arbitrator was justified in ordering Deol to pay Rs 12 lakh, citing clear knowledge that the actor violated the agreement.Both parties later moved the Bombay High Court, challenging the 2015 order.
‘Don 3’ controversy
This update comes after the controversy started by Ranveer Singh reportedly bowing out of Farhan Akhtar’s ‘Don 3’. The filmmaker made headlines after he admitted that his production house had already invested approximately Rs 45 crore in pre-production costs (including advance hotel/travel bookings and location scouting) and demanded damages.