'This is not how real relationships work': Madhur Bhandarkar's response to Karan Johar's apology

The ongoing feud between Karan Johar and Madhur Bhandarkar over the title of Netflix's upcoming show Fabulous Lives of Bollywood Wives has taken a fresh turn today. Filmmaker Karan Johar has finally responded to Madhur Bhandarkar, who had accused him of 'blatantly misusing his title Bollywood Wives' for his upcoming web show. 

In response to Madhur's claims, Karan has penned a long open letter apologizing to Bhandarkar and assuring him that they are promoting it as 'Fabulous lives' and the 'format, nature, audience and the title' of his show are different.

In an open letter to Bhandarkar that he shared on social media, Karan wrote:

Dear Madhur, Our relationship goes back a long way, and we have both been a part of this close-knit industry for many, many years. Through all these years. I have been an ardent admirer of your work, and I have always wished the best for you.

Apologizing for the use of such a title for the upcoming show, Karan said:

I know you have been upset with us. I humbly apologise for any grievance that has been caused to you during the course of the last few weeks. However, I would want to clarify that we have chosen this new and different title -The Fabulous Lives of Bollywood Wives keeping in mind the non-fiction format of our reality-based franchise series. As our title was destined, I did not foresee it upsetting you as it has, and for that, I duly apologise.

He assured Bhandarkar that his show would not harm the former's project

I want to inform you that we have been promoting our series with the hashtag "Fabulous Lives" on all social media platforms, which is the franchise title we intend to go ahead with. We assure you that the format, nature, audience and the title of our series are different and would not in any manner dent or encumber the exploitation of your work.

 Karan ended the letter on a good note.

I hope we can move away and onward from this and continue to make exceptionally good content for our audiences. I wish you the very best for all your endeavours and look forward to watching your work.

Replying to Karan's open letter Madhur wrote:

Dear Karan, Thank you for your response. This is indeed a close-knit industry, and it operates on mutual trust and respect. When we blatantly disregard norms that we ourselves have established, then it makes very little sense calling ourselves a "fraternity".

When Madhur gave his film's title to Karan Johar

 I didn't hesitate a moment in the past before granting you the title "GUTKA" in 2013, that you had requested from me. Hence, I would have expected the same courtesy in return when I declined you the use of a title I had duly registered, and which I did not intend to part with. The fact that you went ahead and used the title anyway despite our conversation and despite it also having been rejected by the trade associations is what had upset me deeply. This is not how I believe real relationships work.

Apology accepted

But let's move forward. I accept your apology and would like to leave things here. I too wish you well in your future endeavours.

About the ongoing title war Fabulous Lives of Bollywood Wives

For the unversed, Bhandarkar claims that Karan Johar and Apoorva Mehta (CEO of Dharma Productions) had tweaked the title of his upcoming project, Bollywood Wives after he refused to give the name to them.

Madhur Bhandarkar had also written a letter to IMPPA along with the Guild and Netflix.

Earlier on Thursday, Bhandarkar had shared pictures of the notices he had sent to Karan Johar's production house and other bodies, claiming that he was yet to get any response from him. He had accused them of "misusing & tweaking" the title of his undergoing project Bollywood Wives.

When and where to watch the show 'The Fabulous Lives of Bollywood Wives'

Karan Johar's latest show gives us a sneak peek into the lives of four wives of Bollywood actors and BFFs: namely Seema Khan (w/o Sohail Khan), Maheep Kapoor (w/o Sanjay Kapoor), Bhavana Panday (w/o Chunky Panday) and Neelam Kothari Soni (w/o Samir Soni). Season 1 of the show is dropping on 27th November and will be streaming on Netflix.

The trailer also has Shah Rukh Khan, his wife Gauri Khan, Bhavana's daughter Ananya Panday, Sanjay and Samir in guest roles