MUMBAI: The Bombay High Court on Thursday refused to stop the release of Punha Shivajiraje Bhosale, an upcoming Marathi film directed by Mahesh Manjrekar, which Everest Entertainment LLP had claimed was a case of copyright infringement. The company had told the court that the name and trailer bore similarities to the 2009 hit Mee Shivajiraje Bhosale Boltoy, but the court held that Everent had approached them too late despite knowing about the film since April 2025.
Justice Amit S Jamsandekar at the vacation court said that the case suffered from a “gross and inordinate delay” and that Everest had “approached the court at the eleventh hour” despite knowing about the new film since April 2025.
“A litigant who adopts a relaxed approach does not deserve any equity (fairness),” the court observed, adding that such last-minute applications for delays before a film’s release “ought to be discouraged and rejected.”
Everest Entertainment, represented by advocate Ravindra Suryawanshi, argued that the Manjrekar-directed Punha Shivajiraje Bhosale was a “blatant and slavish copy” of Everest’s earlier film. The company claimed the new film was misrepresented as a sequel and could create confusion among audiences. Suryavanshi added that the script, dialogues, and promotional material was also similar to the previous film.
The defendants, Manjrekar, Krizolh Filmz LLP, Satyasai Productions, and Zee Entertainment, opposed the plea, pointing out that Everest had waited over five months after learning of the project to file the suit.
Advocate Harshad Bhadbhade, appearing for Manjrekar, argued that the two films were “entirely different in theme and concept”. He told the court that the earlier film dealt with the identity crisis of a common man in Mumbai, while the new one focused on the plight of farmers and corruption. “There can be no copyright in the name of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj,” the defendants said, adding that the words and imagery were a part of “public heritage”.
After screening both films, justice Jamsandekar held that there was no substantial reproduction of Everest’s work. The bench relied on one of the court’s earlier rulings that a new film, even if similar in theme, does not constitute copyright infringement unless the original recording is copied.
The judge also rejected Everest’s claim that dialogues such as ‘Yaaj Sathi Kela Hota Attahas’ (It’s for this that we struggled) and ‘Garv Balag Marathi Aslyacha’ (Proud to be born a Marathi) were a copyright of the earlier film, and held that these were “regular and common words used by every Marathi-speaking person” and could not be monopolised.
Holding that there was no evident case of infringement, justice Jamsandekar said, “By no stretch of imagination can the plaintiff claim exclusive rights over such material.” The court refused to restrain the defendants from releasing the film on October 31.
In June 2008, Everest signed an agreement with Ashwami Films to co-produce five Marathi films in three years. As per the agreement, the intellectual property (IP) rights were divided between the two with Everest holding 60%, and Ashwami holding 40%. Together they produced and released ‘Me Shivajiraje Bhosale Boltoy!’ in 2009.
After the film became a blockbuster commercial success, in 2013 the two production companies came to an agreement where director Mahesh Manjrekar from Ashwami transferred the remaining IP rights to Everest. As per this agreement Manjrekar handed over the entire intellectual property, copyrights, underlying works, including the sole and exclusive right to create prequels, sequels, or other derivative works to Everest.