The producers of Thank God and Azure Entertainment have finalised consent terms and settled their dispute for Rs. 3.75 crore. Azure Entertainment had filed a commercial suit worth Rs. 4.50 crore in the Bombay high court, seeking stay against the film’s release in October this year. However, the HC had refused to grant ad interim relief to the plaintiffs, Azure Entertainment. Justice B.P. Colabawalla had then decreed the suit against defendants (Maruti International, and its partners, Indra Kumar and Ashok Thakeria) to jointly and severally pay to the plaintiff a sum of Rs. 4.50 crore together with interest at 10% p.a. plus GST under clause 11 of the second addendum dated 21st October, 2022.
However, the court has now recorded the settlement amount of Rs. 3.75 crore and said that if there was even a single default in payment, the entire decretal amount of Rs. 4.50 crore together with interest would become forthwith due and payable.
In the suit, Azure had claimed that it had acquired the remake rights of Danish film Sorte Kugler (What Goes Around), of which Thank God was the Hindi remake. The suit added that Thank God was produced under a co-production arrangement between Maruti International and Azure pursuant to which Maruti had committed to pay Azure Rs. 4.50 crore prior to the India release of the film. The arrangement mentioned that the domestic release of the film would not happen until an NOC was given by Azure.
Azure Entertainment alleged that the defendants, Maruti International, defaulted on certain payments in spite of receiving funds from T-Series. Since Azure did not succeed in getting a stay on the film’s release, it hoit the screens on October 25, 2022.
In its order dated November 30, 2022, passed by Justice Colabawalla, pursuant to the mutual consent of the parties involved, a sum of Rs. 3.75 crore was agreed to be paid by Maruti International as a concession against the decreed amount of Rs. 4.50 crore with a clear direction that in the event the payment of any single instalment was defaulted upon by Maruti International, Azure would be entitled to execute the decree for the entire amount of Rs. 4.50 crore along with interest and GST.