The Calcutta High Court restrained the use of the 1981 hit song Apne to jayse tayse from Amitabh Bachchan starrer Lawaris in the Sajid Khan directed Housefull, which premiered on Friday.
In an interim stay till June 2, Justice Nadira Patherya on Friday restrained producer Sajid Nadiadwala from the cinematic use of the Kalyanji-Anandji number in the new film, where it has been remixed with another song Dhanno.
Anandji and the heirs of music directors Kalyanji had filed a suit before the High Court claiming that the producers of Housefull had used the song Apne to jayse tayse, thodi aise ya oyse without the copyright.
Heirs of Prakash Mehra, producer of Lawaris, also filed a separate suit before the court claiming that the song was written by the late Mehra and the right to the lyrics remained with them.
After hearing the two songs, which had similarities prima facie, Justice Patherya ordered the injunction restraining the defendants from using the number till June 2.
Justice Patherya directed the parties to file affidavits in two weeks and the matter would be heard again after three weeks.
The counsel for Nadiadwala sought a stay of the order of injunction so that he could appeal before a larger bench, but the judge turned down the plea.
Nadiadwala's counsel had earlier stated that they had bought the rights from music company Saregama India Ltd, which claimed to have the rights to the songs of the 1981 film.
Lawaris was a blockbuster and the song, sung by Kishore Kumar, continues to be popular 29-years after the film's release.
Image: Akshay Kumar, Riteish Deshmukh and Arjun Rampal in a scene from Housefull.
