Director files copyright infringement lawsuit against upcoming film 'Mission Mangal'

Radha Bharadwaj, a woman director, recently filed a copyright infringement against an upcoming film "Mission Mangal" at the Bombay High Court, alleging that the movie infringes on the copyright of her original screenplay 'Space MOMs'.

The lawsuit sought a stay on the production and release of the movie. "Mission Mangal", starring Akshay Kumar and Vidya Balan, is about India's 2014 Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM), also known as Mangalyaan.

The lawsuit stated that Radha had given her screenplay to producer Atul Kasbekar in 2016 and that Kasbekar's company had signed a non-disclosure agreement prohibiting them from disclosing Radha’s project to anyone without her prior written consent. However, Radha later got to know that Kasbekar had displayed the script to Actress Vidya, and therefore, Radha had cancelled her agreement.

The suit stated that Radha had registered her screenplay with the US Copyright Office in 2016 after the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) had notified her of its support for her movie and arranged for her to interview several of its engineers.

In 2016, the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) had informed Radha that it would provide the necessary support for the movie and provided her with the facility to interview several of its engineers. Subsequently, Radha had registered her screenplay with the US Copyright Office.