MUMBAI: Bollywood film ‘Rajdhani Express’ starring tennis star Leander Paes, produced by Manoj Kejriwal and directed by Ashok Kohli has been served a legal notice based on a criminal complaint.
Qutubuddin Ansari – a victim of the Godhra riots in Gujarat, also known as the face of the 2002 riots, filed a complaint with the Metropolitan Magistrate I M Sardar.
Ansari, who was photographed with folded hands and teary eyes, during the 2002 riots claims his image has been used in the movie without his permission, and further claims that a negative image of him has been created in ‘Rajdhani Express’.
Ansari’s lawyer Amit Nair said that there were notices sent to the director and producer of ‘Rajdhani Express’ in January and, after no response from them, they filed a complaint with the court.
The complaint filed covers penal action, criminal defamation, promoting enmity among different groups on ground of religion or race and criminal conspiracy, with a compensation fixed at Rs 25 lakh.
Apart from the compensation the victim has also demanded a formal apology from the producer and director of the film.
Metropolitan Magistrate I M Sardar has issued notices to Manoj Kejriwal and Ashok Kohli, with a hearing scheduled for March 18.
Ansari’s petition stated that in the film, “his photograph is shown hanging on a wall and a policeman, in a lead role, is speaking in an abusive language while looking at the photograph and pointing a gun at it.”
