Mukesh Khanna, who played Shaktimaan in the very popular TV serial, Shaktimaan, has taken strong objection to a scene in Malayalam film Dhamaka, showing actor Mukesh in the garb of the Indian superhero. Khanna has filed a complaint against director Omar Lulu with the Film Employees Federation of Kerala (FEFKA), requesting the Association to stop the filmmaker from using the character in the film, failing which he would initiate legal action. He said, he had found the usage objectionable. He also added that he was the copyright holder of the character, costume, theme music and more. He explained that no one can use it in a film without his permission, that too, in a funny manner.
The filmmaker said, it was just for a fun sequence which is about 10 seconds in length. He explained that he hadn’t reproduced the character; rather, he had used it as a mark of appreciation of Shaktimaan. In the sequence, some youngsters imagine Mukesh’s character, who is jogging in a park, to be Shaktimaan. He added that instead of Superman, he had decided to show Shaktimaan because the audience would identify better with him as he was an Indian superhero.