The Bombay high court torday (March 18) refused to stay the release of T-Series, Sanjay Gupta and Sangeeta Ahir’s Mumbai Saga. Undertrial gangsters Ravi Bohra and Ashwin Naik and the family of slain gangster Amar Naik, brother of Ashwin Naik, petitioned the court for a stay. The petitioners told the court that the film had been made without their permission and its release would prejudice the court during their trial and would also encroach on the family’s right to privacy and liberty.
The petitioners informed the court that they had first sent the film’s producers notice in February 2019 to desist from making the film. They sent another notice on February 26, 2021, when the film’s trailer was released. Both, Bohra and Naik, are being tried under the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crimes Act (MCOCA). Senior advocate Birendra Saraf, appearing for the producers, submitted that they never claimed that the story was based on Bohra or Naik’s life. He said, a similar application was made by the petitioners before the MCOCA court but it was rejected. Saraf agreed to make the producers change the disclaimer in the film which would not include that the film was “based on true events”.
After hearing both the sides, a bench of Justices A.A. Sayed and Madhav Jamdar refused to grant a stay on the film’s release. Mumbai Saga is slated for release in the cinemas tomorrow (March 19).