A part of Savarkar for each of us

After months of conflict, producers and Randeep agree to 51-49 per cent ownership of Swatantrya Veer Savarkar’s IP; creative decisions rest with the actor-director

On January 6, mid-day reported that following months of conflicts regarding the intellectual property rights (IPR) of Swatantrya Veer Savarkar, actor-director Randeep Hooda, and producers Anand Pandit and Sandeep Singh had come to an understanding (One fight ends, freedom fight begins, Jan 6). In the latest development, all the concerned parties submitted the final agreement, wherein it is stated that the biopic’s IPR—including the derivative rights, trademarks, copyrights, script and publicity rights—will jointly belong to the producers’ respective studios and Hooda’s banner, with the former holding 51 per cent share to the actor’s 49 per cent.

Singh and Pandit

Per the agreement, a copy of which is in possession of mid-day, the IPR can be shared by Pandit and Hooda in the ratio of 50:50, after the producer’s recovery of investments of Rs 6 crore. All the creative decisions, however, solely rest with the actor-director. Pandit is happy that Hooda, Singh and he have resolved their differences. “Profit-sharing has never been a major issue. It was a misunderstanding that has been cleared. I’ve always been inspired by Veer Savarkar, and doing business was never [the motive] with this film. By showing Savarkar’s contribution in the freedom struggle on the big screen, I wanted our generation to know more about him,” he states.

While Hooda steps into Vinayak Damodar Savarkar’s shoes, Ankita Lokhande plays his wife Yamunabai Savarkar. Pandit says that as the director, Hooda is the best person to take the creative decisions. He adds, “Randeep is taking the creative calls, including which trailers and posters should appear, the marketing, and so on. Now, we’re going all out with the promotions, so that we can release the movie on February 23 or March 1.”

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