Emraan Hashmi and Yami Gautam are all set to share screen in Suparn Verma`s Haq, which is inspired by the real-life court case between Mohd. Ahmed Khan and Shah Bano Begum, which happens to be one of the most controversial cases in India. However, the movie has landed in legal trouble ahead of its release.
Haq lands in legal trouble
According to reports, Shah Bano’s daughter Siddiqua Begum has sent a legal notice to the makers of the film. In the notice, she sought an immediate halt to the film as it allegedly shows the personal life of Shah Bano without Siddiqua`s consent, who is her legal heir. The notice also mentions defamation and violation of personality and publicity rights against Haq.
Lawyer Tousif Z Warsi, who represents Siddiqua Begum, while talking to India Today, revealed, “There is a requirement of certain addition, like Shah Bano`s personal life is depicted in the movie, because it`s a long movie of two odd hours. We do not know what events have been disclosed in the movie, in what manner it has been reproduced, emphasising their personal life, or how it has been depicted. So, the storyline and the theme of the movie must first be disclosed to their legal heirs.”
Warsi added, “Then a written consent should be obtained that, yes, you are allowed to go ahead with the publication of the biography of Shah Bano. And without any such written consent from her biological daughters, I don`t think so, even the court would not allow publication of all these movies. Earlier as well, certain movies` publication was stayed by the probe of the high courts.”
About Haq
Haq is inspired by the Supreme Court`s landmark verdict in the Mohd. Ahmed Khan v. Shah Bano Begum case. The thriller, which stars Yami Gautam Dhar as Bano and Emraan Hashmi as her husband, revisits one of India`s most debated legal battles from the late 1970s and early 1980s.
The film explores pressing questions of faith, identity, personal belief, liberalism, and law, particularly the Uniform Civil Code (UCC) under Article 44. Yami plays a fearless Muslim woman who refuses to be silenced. Wronged and abandoned, she bravely approaches the court to claim her `haq` for herself and her children under Section 125.
The film is a dramatised and fictionalised retelling inspired by the book Bano: Bharat ki Beti by Jigna Vora. The film revisits the landmark Shah Bano case, a legal battle that sparked nationwide debate over forty years ago.
(With inputs from IANS)
