PVR Inox has taken producer Dinesh Vijan to court for non-performance of contract by cancelling the release of his Bhool Chuk Maaf on May 9. The matter was heard in the Bombay high court yesterday (May 9). Orders have been reserved for May 12.
It was the case of PVR Inox that Dinesh Vijan suddenly reneged on his contracts with various cinemas of its chain to release his Rajkumar Rao starrer on May 9. Meanwhile, the national multiplex chain promoted his film for weeks together and even played its trailer to announce that it was coming to the cinemas on May 9. PVR Inox has sued Vijan’s Maddock Films for damages to the tune of Rs. 60 crore.
According to PVR Inox, the shows allocated to Bhool Chuk Maaf from May 9 could’ve been allotted to other film/s if they had known that Vijan would default in the performance of the contract. By cancelling the release, he had put PVR Inox to huge losses as it was opportunity lost by them.
It may be mentioned here that although Maddock Films took the plea that it was cancelling the film’s release at the eleventh hour “in view of the recent events and the heightened security drills across the nation”, PVR Inox claim that no other producer has acted in this manner. What seems to have irked the national multiplex chain is Vijan’s decision to go directly to OTT next week. In the same announcement, the joint producers of the film — Maddock Films and Amazon MGM Studios — said that they had “decided to do away with its theatrical release and will instead get it directly on Prime Video worldwide on 16th May”.
It is to be seen whether the court will grant damages to PVR Inox and if so, the quantum of damages. Invoking of the force majeure clause (which allows non-performance of contract) may not work for Dinesh Vijan because at the time of the cancellation of the film’s theatrical release, war had not formally been declared between India and Pakistan.
Actually, PVR Inox has claimed damages and also asked for specific performance of contract. In other words, it has asked the court to order Dinesh Vijan to release his film theatrically rather than premiering it on OTT.
Specific non-performance of a contract occurs when a party fails to fulfill its contractual obligations as agreed upon, and the other party seeks a court order to compel the breaching party to perform the contract as it was originally intended. This remedy, known as specific performance, is typically granted when monetary damages are insufficient to compensate for the breach, such as in cases involving unique goods or property.