New Delhi: Kangana Ranaut’s Queen 2, which is the sequel to the 2013 blockbuster hit Queen, has landed in legal trouble. Phantom Studios has sued JioStar for Rs 250 crore.

Directed by Vikas Bahl, the film’s shooting has been wrapped up. Kangana and Vikal even cut the cut on the last day of the shoot and called it a “wonderful experience”.

Why did Phantom Studios sue JioStar?

Phantom Studios has filed a lawsuit in Bombay High Court for Rs 250 crore against JioStar over the “unauthorised use” of its intellectual property.

According to Phantom Studios, they hold 50 per cent of the Queen rights, including the right to make sequels. However, they have not approved any sequels, adaptations or derivative works of the film so far.

According to a Mid-Day report, the case has been filed after “repeated communication” about the alleged infringement and “settled discussions” between the two parties. However, neither JioStar or Vikas Bahl acknowledged their requests.

A source close to the development told the publication, “Their non-action is what has led to Phantom Studios suing them for infringement. There was even a public notice put out and multiple communications sent to Vikas and JioStar as well, informing them before this step was taken.”

Another source cited that Phantom Studios took the legal route after learning that the film’s shooting had been wrapped up.

Why were Phantom Studios disbanded?

Queen was originally produced by Phantom Studios, which was founded by Vikas Bahl, Anurag Kashyap, Vikramaditya Motwane, and Madhu Mantena. The production house even won the National Award for Best Feature Film in Hindi for Queen.

But, when Vikas Bahl’s name came up during the MeToo movement, it led to disagreements between the four founding members. Soon, they started leaving the company one by one and eventually Phantom Film was disbanded in 2019.

What happened to Queen’s remakes?

After Kangana Ranaut’s Queen gained cult status in Bollywood and broke several records at the box office despite being a female-led film, other industries announced its remakes in 2018.

There were four South remakes, including the Tamil remake starring Kajal Aggarwal and directed by Ramesh Aravind, the Telugu remake starring Tamannaah Bhatia and helmed by Prasanth Varma. It was titled ‘This is Mahaklaxmi’. The Malayalam remake titled ‘Zam Zam’, starring Manjima Mohan and directed by Neelakanta, and the Kannada remake starring Parul Yadav, and also directed by Aravind.

However, the four remakes could never be released. While some had logistical issues that delayed shoots, the others suffered because the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) objected to certain scenes in the remakes. The remakes, which were being produced by Manu Kumaran, could never be released due to an ownership dispute.