‘Bullett Raja’ director laughs off Rs 7 cr libel filed by Raja’s mother

OST Bureau

Lucknow/Bhubaneswar, Nov 28:

Even as a Bhubaneswar court dismissed a petition seeking to stop the release of his film on Wednesday, Tigmangshu Dhulia, director of the Saif Ali Khan starrer ‘Bullett Raja’, has laughed off the libel suit for Rs 7 crore filed against the makers of the film by Mrs Nalini Acharya, mother of Raja Acharya, the gangster who is serving a life term in jail for killing judo coach Biranchi Das in April 2008.

“Why would I go looking for gangster stories all the way to Odisha when I can get plenty of such stories in UP to take inspiration from,” asked a sarcastic Dhulia when asked about the case during a promotional tour of the soon-to-be-released film on Wednesday.

In her suit filed before the Civil Judge (Senior Division) court in Bhubaneswar earlier this month, Mrs Acharya had alleged that Raja Mishra, the character that Saif plays in the film, was based on the story of her son Raja Acharya. Accusing the film makers of misrepresenting the facts of her son’s case in making the film, she had sought a compensation of Rs 7 crore from the makers for the damage caused to the reputation of her family.

Apart from Dhulia, Mrs Acharya had named Fox Star Studios Private Limited and Saif as the other defendants.

On Wednesday, the Civil Judge ( Sr Division) in Bhubaneswar rejected the mis-case filed by Mrs Acharya seeking a ban on the international release of the film on November 28 and nationwide release on November 29, saying the complainant Mrs Acharya’s arguments that the film is based on her son’s life is untenable because she had not seen the film herself and secondly, the makers of the film will suffer heavy losses and inconvenience if its release is stalled.

The judge, however, in his order has said that in case “she ultimately succeeds in the ( defamation) suit, the loss to be sustained by her can be adequately compensated by way of grant of damages.”