Warner sues Indian prod house

Mirchi Movies' bosses are planning to go ahead with the release of their forthcoming children's comedy Hari Puttar – A Comedy of Terrors despite a lawsuit filed by Hollywood studio Warner Bros alleging infringement of their copyright of the Harry Potter franchise.

Munish Purii, COO, Mirchi Movies said that Warner Bros had come out with the suit just three weeks before the film's release.

"The matter is subjudice. This will go on for a while and we plan to tackle it like any other court case We are very close to the film's release," Purii told IANS over telephone from Mumbai on Monday.

Warner Bros believes that the film's name is too similar to the title character of the hugely popular wizard franchise Harry Potter. [IN PICS: Last year's films you must have on DVD]

Releasing September 12 worldwide, the film follows the life of a 10-year-old Indian boy who moves to Britain with his parents. Feeling lonely and unappreciated, Hari makes friends with a cartoon character from his fantasy world, and ends up being a real-life hero.

"It is a fun film and a family entertainer. The film has nothing in common with the 'Harry Potter' franchise as the story suggests. The 'Hari Puttar' name has been in the news and has appeared at places since the last 18 months.

"It talks about the freedom of a child when he is left alone in the house with his cousin and the funny situations that follow when two burglars try getting into the house to get hold of a chip that his father has been secretly working on," said Purii.

Directed by Rajesh Bajaj and Lucky Kohli, Hari Puttar stars Zain Khan, Swini Khara, Jackie Shroff, Saurabh Shukla, Vijay Raaz and Sarika.

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