Mumbai, August 19: A shocking case of fraud has emerged from Mumbai’s film industry. A well-known distribution company has been accused of scamming 1.5 crore INR under the pretense of selling distribution, digital, and copyright rights for one of Bollywood’s most popular comedy films, ‘Dhamal.’
On August 17, 2026, the Amboli police registered a case against renowned filmmaker Ashok Naval Kumar Thakariya and veteran director Indra Kumar. This action was initiated based on a complaint filed by Vikas Baldevraj Sahni, the owner of Grand Master, a prominent film distribution company located in Andheri West.
The complaint alleges that the production company, Maruti International, defrauded Sahni’s company, causing significant financial losses. According to Sahni, an official agreement was made with Maruti International on October 15, 2019. Under this agreement, the all-world distribution, rights, and copyrights for the hit film ‘Dhamal’ (starring Sanjay Dutt, Arshad Warsi, and Riteish Deshmukh) were permanently purchased for 1.5 crore INR. The producers assured that the film’s rights had not been sold to any third party. However, it later came to light that the accused had sold the lifetime OTT and digital rights of the film to Shemaroo Entertainment Limited back in 2015.
Following the revelation of the fraud, the accused allegedly presented a forged agreement on bond paper and attempted to suppress Grand Master’s legal rights by modifying the contract with Shemaroo in October 2020. The victim businessman has presented several strong documents to the police to assert his ownership rights.
The Government Copyright Office of India issued a certificate on April 28, 2023, confirming Grand Master as the official and legal copyright owner of the film ‘Dhamal’ after reviewing all documents. In January 2020, the producers had also written to the film lab, transferring complete ownership of the original negatives (sound and picture) to Grand Master, which remains legally secured with them.
Due to the accused’s fraudulent actions, Grand Master faced the cancellation of ongoing business deals with other major digital platforms, resulting in substantial financial losses. After receiving no satisfactory response to a legal notice sent on January 2, 2023, the victim turned to the police. Currently, the Mumbai police have registered the case and are investigating the relevant documents.
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