‘Munni Badnaam Hui’ maybe the hit flavour of the month and blasting out of the sound systems at all popular night clubs right now but Makhi i.e Arbaaz Khan is not completely happy. Why? The legal headache created by Zandu Pharmaceuticals, with the legal notices they sent to Arbaaz Khan Productions (AKP), for the use of “Zandu Balm” in the lyrics without prior consent.
This has come as a second hit to the popular song, the first being an objection to the use of “Hindustan” from Mumbai activist Rajkumar Tak. Although Arbaaz and director Abhinav Kashyap have changed the “Hindustan” phrasing in the song prior to judgement, both were not impressed and felt this was just a publicity stunt. “The matter is subjudice but even before the verdict is out, we’ve changed the word Hindustan to Policeistan.” says Kashyap. As this matter settled another rose in the form of Zandu Pharmaceuticals.
Initially, even though ZP company director Aditya Vardhan Agarwal was cool in his response as to whether AKP would be taken to court on the matter, saying to Mid-day, “It is not necessary. There could be an out of court settlement.” Director Mohan Goenka was not so calm. “By using the brand name in the song, they have not only violated the copyright, but also made an attempt to defame our reputation.” AKP sources say Arbaaz and his team, however, were not rattled. Stating “If the balm company so desired, we were ready to take them on. This was just an attempt to latch on to Dabangg’s. success.”
Now apparently legal matters have since been resolved in such way that Malaika Arora Khan as Munni will now endorse the product. It took a common ally adman Prahlad Kakkad to settle it. “It’s all been amicably sorted, out of court, thanks to adman Prahlad Kakkad” says Arbaaz. Incidentally, even before the out of court discussions came to a smooth ending, business for the balm company has since multiplied significantly.
