Sahir Ludhianvi-Amrita Pritam biopic caught in legal trouble

August 5, 2014 - 11:49 AM IST

With biopics being the flavor of the season, producer Ashi Dua decided to revive the love story of popular poetess Amrita Pritam with literary legend Sahir Ludhianvi. The film which was to be directed by Jasmeet Reen, however, has been caught up in a legal controversy.

The family of Amrita Pritam, that is, her partner Imroze and her grandson Aman Kwatra are unhappy with the idea of this biopic and has denied the permission to portray the story on screen. Amrita Pritam, who had a turbulent relationship with Sahir Ludhianvi, has mentioned about the same in her autobiography. We also hear that, Aman and his sister Shilpi did meet the makers of the film but refused to allow them to showcase the love story on celluloid. According Aman Kwatra, his grandmother was a simple woman and wanted to lead a life that way. She never wanted her life to be made into a film and the family members are only abiding by her wish.

He also expressed his disappointment over the fact that despite his repeated attempts to convince the makers to shelve the film, Ashi Dua went ahead with the project and has even cast a few actors for the same. However, he has curtly maintained that since they have the right to Amrita Pritam's autobiography, they will not allow her life to be commercialized. Aman also clearly stated that they want people to know about the poetess life through her writings, and not through commercial cinema and hence they have decided to fight for it.

However, on the other hand, Ashi Dua maintained that she has no idea about any such legal tangle and that they have already received all the necessary permission required to make the film.

The film in question apparently stars Irrfan Khan as Sahir Ludhianvi and it is being said that Priyanka Chopra has been approached to play Amrita Pritam.