Jolly LLB-2 cast, crew summoned in Bata defamation case
Akshay Kumar, Annu Kapoor and makers of the film Jolly LLB 2 were summoned by a Delhi court in a defamation case filed by Bata India Limited for using "derogatory remarks and defamatory references in the first official trailer of the movie." Additional chief metropolitan magistrate found prima facie grounds for proceeding against the accused, who have to appear in court on 22nd February.
Bata Shoes
Bata Shoe Organization, more commonly known as Bata worldwide, manufactures and sells footwear and fashion accessories. It is a family-owned company with headquarters in Lausanne, Switzerland. It is organized into three business units: Bata Europe, Bata Emerging Market (Asia, Pacific, Africa and Latin America) and Bata Protective (Worldwide B2B operations). Bata owns 5200 retail stores in more than 70 countries.
Jolly LLB 2
The State vs Jolly LLB 2 was released on 10th February 2017. Written and directed by Subhash Kapoor, the movie features Bollywood actors Akshay Kumar, Huma Qureshi, Saurabh Shukha and Annu Kapoor as the leads. It is a sequel to the 2013 film Jolly LLB. The movie is based on a courtroom drama and draws a satirical parallel to the Indian legal system.
Bata sends legal notice to Jolly LLB 2 makers, actors
After the release of the Jolly LLB 2 trailer, which garnered a lot of popularity, makers of the movie along with Akshay Kumar ironically landed in a legal trouble. Shoemaker giant Bata sent a legal notice to Fox Star Studios India, executive producer Naren Kumar, directors Deepak Jacob, Amit Shah and Subhash Kapoor. Actors Akshay Kumar and Anu Kapoor were also notified.
What was the legal notice about?
In the legal notice, Bata claimed that an objectionable and derogatory remark was made about the brand in the trailer. This comment was seen when Anu Kapoor comments on Kumar's character's attire saying, "Varna kya..Bata ka joota pehan kar, tucchi si terricot ki shirt pehan kar, saala humse zabaan lada rahe hain." Akshay Kumar's character then responds with a hard slap.
The petition
In its petition, Bata said, "The dialogue is intended to convey that the brand Bata is adorned only by lower strata of society and one should feel humiliated if one wears Bata footwear." Bata also had a problem with subtitles replacing 'Bata' with 'cheap shoes.'
