Mumbai Court Refuses to Stay OTT Release of Dhurandhar in Filmmaker Santosh Kumar’s Lawsuit

A civil court in Mumbai on June 4 refused to stay the OTT release of Bollywood film Dhurandhar 2 after filmmaker Santosh Kumar alleged that the movie copied his original script. The plea sought an urgent order to block the film’s online release, but the court declined to grant ad-interim relief.

According to the report, the matter was heard by Judge Yunus Kharadi, who rejected Kumar’s request for a temporary stay. The court observed that Kumar had suppressed certain material facts while seeking relief, which weighed against his petition. The order means the film’s OTT release will proceed for now, unless a higher court later intervenes or fresh legal grounds emerge.

Kumar had accused Dhurandhar 2 director Aditya Dhar of copying elements from his own screenplay. His petition claimed that the film was substantially similar to his original work and that its release should be halted until the dispute is resolved. The filmmaker argued that allowing the movie to stream would cause irreversible harm, especially if the content was later found to have been taken from his script without permission.

The court’s refusal to stop the release represents an early setback for Kumar in his copyright dispute. In Indian entertainment cases, interim relief is often sought to prevent a film from reaching the public before allegations of plagiarism are fully examined. Such requests are usually considered on the basis of urgency, similarity of content, and whether the applicant has disclosed all relevant facts before the court.

By denying the stay, the court effectively signaled that the legal threshold for emergency intervention had not been met at this stage. However, the ruling does not end the case itself. Kumar may still continue his civil claim and present further evidence supporting his allegation that the film draws from his script. The producers and director, meanwhile, are likely to maintain that the project is original and independently developed.

The dispute adds another legal challenge around Dhurandhar 2, which has already attracted attention because of its cast, production scale and expectations surrounding its digital release. OTT premieres often draw intense scrutiny because they make films accessible to a large audience immediately after release, increasing the stakes in copyright and authorship disputes.

For now, the Mumbai civil court’s order allows the OTT release process to move ahead. The case may continue to be heard in the coming weeks, depending on further filings and the parties’ next legal steps.

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