Indra Kumar, Ashok Thakeria face FIR over Dhamaal rights fraud

Director Indra Kumar and producer Ashok Thakeria, the filmmakers behind the popular Dhamaal comedy franchise, are facing a police investigation in Mumbai over an alleged Rs 1.50 crore fraud related to the rights of the 2007 film. An FIR was registered on August 17, 2026, at the Amboli Police Station following a complaint by Vikas Baldevraj Sahni, owner of the film distribution company Grand Master. According to the complaint, Sahni’s company entered into an agreement with Maruti International, a production house associated with Thakeria, on October 15, 2019. Under this deal, Grand Master allegedly paid Rs 1.50 crore to purchase the permanent worldwide distribution, digital, and copyright rights for the Sanjay Dutt and Arshad Warsi-starrer. The complainant states that the producers assured him at the time that no other party held rights to the film. Sahni alleges that he later discovered the lifetime OTT and digital rights for Dhamaal had already been sold to Shemaroo Entertainment Limited in 2015, four years prior to his agreement. In January 2020, a representative from Maruti International reportedly informed Grand Master of this pre-existing arrangement with Shemaroo.