Akshay Kumar's Toilet: Ek Prem Katha gets into legal trouble over plagiarism charges

Akshay Kumar's Toilet: Ek Prem Katha, the trailer and songs of which have been creating a huge buzz, has landed in a legal trouble.

Filmmaker Praveen Vyas has sent a cease and desist notice for the movie's trailer and promotional campaign. Vyas alleged many dialogues and scenes in the movie are a direct copy of his 2016 documentary drama Manini.

Also read: Toilet - Ek Prem Katha: Sonakshi Singh was the first choice not Akshay Kumar; actress opted for a flop film

"Manini follows the female protagonist as she protests against lack of a toilet in her marital home on the first night of her marriage after female relatives wake her up before sunrise to tend to nature's call in an open field. The scenes in Toilet: Ek Prem Katha's trailer shows the same interaction between characters," the filmmaker told Mumbai Mirror.

Talking about the legal notice, he said: "Since they have denied all our allegations and refused to monetarily compensate us for the origin of idea and script, we will now be fighting this in court."

However, Toilet: Ek Prem Katha maker has denied the allegation claiming the film was registered in 2013 and has been in news since 2015.

"These allegations are baseless and border on harassment. The script of our film has been registered under our writers' names, Siddharth and Garima, with the authorised industry association since 2013. Furthermore, the film has been in the public domain through various news stories since July 2015. We firmly deny all the claims made by this gentleman who is obviously misled. It is sad that genuine producers have become soft targets for this kind of nuisance," said Shital Bhatia, co-producer of Toilet: Ek Prem Katha.

Toilet-Ek Prem Katha, also starring Bhumi Pednekar, is a satirical comedy-drama. The film will also focus on the unhygienic conditions in rural India. Directed by Shree Narayan Singh and produced by Aruna Bhatia, Plan C Studios and Abundantia, the film will be released on August 11, during the Independence Day weekend.