Dhamaal rights fraud: FIR against Indra Kumar, Ashok Thakeria over ₹1.50 crore cheating
Synopsis
A Mumbai distributor claims he paid ₹1.50 crore for permanent worldwide rights to the hit comedy Dhamaal — only to discover the digital and OTT rights had already been sold to Shemaroo Entertainment four years earlier. The FIR against director Indra Kumar and producer Ashok Thakeria exposes the murky world of legacy film-rights trading as catalogue valuations soar.
Key Takeaways
An FIR was registered on 17 August 2026 against Dhamaal director Indra Kumar and producer Ashok Thakeria under BNS sections 318(4) and 3(5) .
Complainant Vikas Baldevraj Sahni of Grand Master alleges a fraud of ₹1.50 crore over the sale of distribution, digital, and copyright of the film.
The accused allegedly sold OTT and digital rights to Shemaroo Entertainment in 2015 , four years before assuring Grand Master the rights were unencumbered.
Grand Master holds copyright certificate CF-5230/2023 issued on 28 April 2023 and claims possession of the film's original negative.
The alleged fraud reportedly caused Grand Master to lose distribution deals with major digital platforms, resulting in losses beyond the initial ₹1.50 crore.
An FIR has been registered against Dhamaal director Indra Kumar and producer Ashok Navalkumar Thakeria of Maruti International for allegedly defrauding a Mumbai-based film distribution company of ₹1.50 crore by selling rights to the superhit film that had reportedly already been transferred to another party. The case was lodged on 17 August 2026 under sections 318(4) and 3(5) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).
The Complaint
The FIR was filed by Vikas Baldevraj Sahni (53), owner of Grand Master, an Andheri West-based film distribution company. According to Sahni's complaint, his company entered into a formal agreement with Maruti International on 15 October 2019, under which Grand Master purchased the worldwide distribution rights, digital rights, and copyrights of Dhamaal — starring Sanjay Dutt, Arshad Warsi, and Riteish Deshmukh — permanently for ₹1.50 crore.
At the time of the deal, the producers allegedly assured Sahni that the rights had not been sold to any third party. That assurance, the complainant alleges, was false.
The Alleged Deception
According to the FIR, Maruti International had already sold the lifetime OTT and digital rights of Dhamaal to Shemaroo Entertainment Limited in 2015 — a full four years before the agreement with Grand Master. The alleged concealment of this prior deal forms the core of the fraud charge.
In January 2020, Ashok Thakeria reportedly visited Grand Master's office in person and disclosed, for the first time, that an existing agreement with Shemaroo Entertainment had transferred all rights to the OTT platform for its lifetime. On 29 October 2020, Maruti International executed a supplementary agreement with Shemaroo, under which the producer reserved rights for only one satellite channel.
Copyright Certificate and Documentation
On 20 March 2020, Grand Master applied for a cinematograph copyright, backed by a chain of title documents. The copyright office subsequently issued certificate CF-5230/2023 to Grand Master on 28 April 2023. The complainant claims to hold both the government-issued copyright certificate and the original negative of the film, and has submitted these documents to the police as evidence of ownership.
Financial Impact and Investigation
The alleged fraud had a cascading business impact: Grand Master's distribution agreements with several major digital platforms were reportedly cancelled as a result of the disputed rights, causing the company losses described as running into crores of rupees beyond the initial ₹1.50 crore outlay. Mumbai Police have registered the case and begun a formal investigation. Neither Indra Kumar nor Ashok Thakeria had issued a public response as of the time of reporting.
The case adds to a pattern of rights-related disputes that have increasingly surfaced in the Hindi film industry as the value of legacy OTT and digital catalogues has surged in recent years.
Point of View
And documentation was rarely airtight. The alleged four-year gap between the Shemaroo deal and the Grand Master agreement — if proven — would be a textbook case of double-dealing. What makes this particularly notable is that Grand Master apparently secured a government copyright certificate in 2023, which complicates Shemaroo's lifetime-rights claim and could trigger a parallel civil dispute. Mumbai Police's investigation may force the industry to confront how poorly historical rights transactions were structured and disclosed.
NationPress
19 Aug 2026
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the FIR against Indra Kumar and Ashok Thakeria about?
The FIR alleges that Indra Kumar and Ashok Thakeria of Maruti International fraudulently sold the worldwide distribution, digital, and copyright of the film Dhamaal to Grand Master for ₹1.50 crore in 2019, despite having already transferred the lifetime OTT and digital rights to Shemaroo Entertainment in 2015. The case was registered on 17 August 2026 under BNS sections 318(4) and 3(5).
Who filed the complaint and what is Grand Master?
The complaint was filed by Vikas Baldevraj Sahni, 53, owner of Grand Master, an Andheri West-based film distribution company. He alleges that the accused assured him the rights were unencumbered at the time of the 2019 agreement, which he claims was false.
What role does Shemaroo Entertainment play in this case?
According to the FIR, Maruti International had sold the lifetime OTT and digital rights of Dhamaal to Shemaroo Entertainment in 2015 — four years before the agreement with Grand Master. In January 2020, Ashok Thakeria reportedly disclosed this to Grand Master, and a supplementary agreement with Shemaroo was signed in October 2020.
Does Grand Master hold any legal rights to Dhamaal?
Grand Master claims to hold copyright certificate CF-5230/2023, issued by the copyright office on 28 April 2023, along with the original negative of the film. The complainant has submitted these documents to the police as proof of ownership, though the legal dispute over rights remains unresolved.
What financial losses has Grand Master claimed?
Beyond the initial ₹1.50 crore paid for the rights, Grand Master claims that the alleged fraud caused its distribution agreements with major digital platforms to be cancelled, resulting in additional losses described as running into crores of rupees.
