Maula Jatt litigants reach settlement

LAHORE :The litigation between Bahoo Films owner Sarwar Bhatti, the producer of the original 1979 film Maula Jatt and makers of Maula Jatt-2, is finally over after both parties reached a settlement.

Interestingly, the parties have claimed that the settlement took place without any financial benefits. As per the settlement agreement available with The News, the agreement states that Sarwar Bhatti is the exclusive copyright and trademark owner of the cinematographic work Maula Jatt (1979) who has out of the goodness of his heart and in consideration of the revival of Pakistani cinema, allowed the filmmakers behind the new movie to use the content from his original work and will subsequently withdraw all other court petitions related to its release.

The agreement also declared that this concurrence is only confined to the making, releasing, promoting and distribution of The Legend of Maula Jatt and not any future movies that may violate rights of the old movie retained by Bahoo Films. The agreement stated that Bahoo Films would record a statement before the Intellectual Property Tribunal telling the tribunal that the matter had been resolved and that Ammara Hikmet's Encylomedia PR is permitted to use the content of Maula Jatt for this upcoming movie. Sarwar Bhatti had moved the court stating that he was the producer of 1979 Punjabi Film "Maula Jatt" and holds all the rights in relation to this movie, including title and cinematographic works and the Censorship Certificate was also issued by Central Film Censor Board, Islamabad in his name as a producer.