ISLAMABAD: The highly anticipated “The Legend of Maula Jatt” has finally been greenlit for screening after legal battles over its release were settled.
The Legend of Maula Jatt, a sequel to the Pakistani cult classic Maula Jatt, was barred from release for about two years after the producers of the original film took the makers of its contemporary rendition to court over licensing and copyright issues.
Maula Jatt, which was released in 1979 and starred the iconic Sultan Rahi and Mustafa Qureshi, was produced by Muhammad Sarwar Bhatti. His son Muttaqi Sarwar repeatedly brought The Legend of Maula Jatt team to task over copyright violations since the newer version included scenes and footage from the original.
The Legend of Maula Jatt which stars Fawad Khan, Mahira Khan, Hamza Ali Abbasi, and Humaima Mallick has been produced by Bilal Lashari, who also directed the film and Ammara Hikmat.
With the release secured, The Legend of Maula Jatt will likely be screened this Eid al-Fitr in May.
This week, Sarwar, Lashari, and Hikmat settled out of court in order to appease all parties and give Pakistan perhaps one of the most anticipated films in the country’s ongoing cinema revival. Due to the legal issues surrounding the film, the release date has been pushed back twice from Eid al-Fitr in 2018 and Eid al-Fitr in 2019.
Sarwar filed a suit before the Intellectual Property Organization of Pakistan tribunal, seeking an order against the release of Lashari’s film in 2017.
In 2019, he sought court orders prohibiting The Legend of Maula Jatt team from using the title, characters, and dialogues alluding to or from the original film, claiming they violated intellectual property law.
