Well, looks like Shah Rukh and Mahira Khan’s upcoming film Raees is in serious legal trouble. A local court in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, issued a notice to Khan’s production house. The notice is in response to a suit filed by the son of gangster Abdul Latif, claiming damages for defaming his late father.
It is said that the movie is inspired by Abdul Latif himself. The son has sued the film’s producers for the derogatory portrayal of his father. SRK’s production company Red Chillies Entertainment, and co-producers Excel Entertainment and Rahul Dholakia Productions, have been sent a legal notice by the Ahmedabad civil court judge RT Vatsani, reports India Today.
Latif, who is said to have been a part of Dawood Ibrahim’s gang, was jailed in 1995 for murder, kidnapping and bootlegging and was killed by the police while breaking out of Sabarmati Jail in Ahmedabad in 1997.
His son Mustaq Ahmad also sought injunction against the release of the film as well as its promotional material. He further claims that his family members were interviewed for Raees’ script and that the producers have indeed promoted the film as inspired from Abdul Latif’s life.
The second part of the film shows Latif in a very defamatory manner and damages the family’s reputation, the suit says, while demanding Rs 101 crore in damages. The petitioner claims that when the script was being researched, his family members were consulted and the producers had also advertised that the film was based on Latif’s life.
Raees stars SRK in the role of bootlegger, while Mahira Khan plays his wife. The film also stars Nawazuddin Siddiqui. It is slated for an Eid 2016 release.
The film’s producers are yet to comment on the matter.