Kangana Ranaut Doesn't Want This Film to Release, Producers Do

Mumbai: A film starring Kangana Ranaut that was shelved several years ago has now been resurrected from oblivion by its makers, possibly to cash in on its heroine's current box office worth. I Love NY has now been scheduled to release on July 10, a move that Kangana has attempted to block by sending producers T-Series a legal notice that alleges the film is seeing light of day without her permission.

Her lawyer Rizwan Siddiquee told mid-day, "It is very unfortunate that without even informing my client, T-Series has unilaterally decided to theatrically release an old film starring my client amongst others. The film was originally abandoned by T-Series for almost six years, as it was not up to the mark and therefore, not commercially viable. It is obvious that T-series is trying to cash in on the current situation for personal gains and therefore, in discharge of their moral duty they neither informed my client nor asked her to promote the said film."

Producer Bhushan Kumar has claimed that he has no control over the film's release as he sold the film rights nearly 18 months ago to Wave Cinemas.

A statement released on his behalf read: "No actor gives permission (for release) until and unless she is an Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) member of the film. As far as the payment is concerned, we are replying to her notice with a copy of the bank receipts because all the payments were made in cheque. If she doesn't have the agreement copy or has misplaced it, she could have asked us for it. Without it, how does she know how much is pending?"

Mr Bhushan says that all payments that were owed to Kangana have been cleared. He will be replying to the legal notice Kangana's team sent him.

I Love NY (which expands into New Year), is directed by Radhika Rao and Vinay Sapru and co-stars Sunny Deol. The story follows the aftermath of a chance New Year's Eve encounter between musician and a Wall Street banker. The film has been languishing in the cans for years and was shelved entirely after being originally scheduled for release in Feb last year.Watch: