“We have hired a legal team to deal with the copy right issue of Zanjeer. Amit Mehra had come to me and Salim for the permission to remake the blockbuster. We suggested sitting across the table and sorting out the matter professionally however Amit kept on vascillating and later went to the media claiming he has got the clearance from us and he is going to start shooting soon. So we had no choice but to take legal action for royalty for the copyright,” Akhtar told the tabloid.
Amit had earlier said that he had taken permission for the remake. “We have bought the rights of Zanjeer from my father, Prakash Mehra's, production company. I have met both (Khan and Akhtar) of them to take their blessings. They are special people,” Amit told PTI.
“This is my first film and I wanted to make Zanjeer, as it was a superhit... Also, I am emotionally connected to it,” Amit had said.
The veteran writers had reportedly asked for a substantial sum of money if the filmmakers wanted to re-interpret their original script on celluloid.
"Any film can be remade provided that it is better that the original. If you are not making it good then where is the need of making it? Ram Gopal Varma remade Sholay. He shouldn't have done that, but it is a free country...," the 67-year-old had earlier told reporters at the Vidhu Vinod Chopra film festival.
A writer has the moral right over his work and changes cannot be made without his permission, Akhtar contended.
"There is something besides a copyright, about which no one talks and that is moral rights. It is not to be changed. If you buy an artist's painting and put it up in your house, you cannot change the content of the painting. The moral rights of the painting remains with the artist," he said.
"Similarly, if you have taken the script, the writer has the moral right over it. You cannot make changes in it without the writer's consent or permission," Ahktar added.
For the remake, Telugu star Chiranjeevi’s son Ram Charan has been cast opposite Priyanka Chopra.
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