There’s been a new twist in the battle between The Legend of Maula Jatt and Maula Jatt after evidence emerged that Maula Jatt producer Sarwar Bhatti — who has filed a copyright infringement claim against The Legend of Maula Jatt — isn’t actually the sole owner of his film which came out in 1979.
In a series of shocking revelations, it has come to light that Bahu Films Corporation — the production house behind Maula Jatt – in fact had six partners. Until today, Sarwar had claimed to be the sole owner of one of the greatest hits ever produced by Pakistani filmmakers. He had been using this claim in order to repeatedly file a case against TLMJ director Bilal Lashari and Ammara Hikmat.
This claim has now been challenged by one partner Chaudhry Jamil’s legal heirs who have clarified that not only was he an investor in Bahu Films but also had his name title in all the films produced under this banner. An original partnership document from 1978 was also presented during a press conference.
Read: No ban on The Legend of Maula JattÂ
“Sarwar Bhatti has been misrepresenting the facts and concealed documents from the court by stating that he owned the original Maula Jatt in a sole proprietorship. When in fact, the movie like many others produced during that time, was the property of Bahu Films Corporation which was a partnership concern. Mr. Sarwar Bhatti has been making many claims regarding the rightful owner when he himself has not accounted for the rights of the partners in Bahu Films Corporation,” Advocate Almas Jovindah, who is representing Chaudhry Jamil’s legal heirs, said.
He furthered that the copyrights are not an individual person’s property and belong to a corporation.
Jovindah further stated, ” The copyrights and trademark belong to the corporation and not an individual person. Sarwar Bhatti has not settled accounts with the shareholders as agreed in the partnership deed.â€
Sarwar Bhatti is yet to comment on the recent developments.
