'Chhapaak' makers can challenge Delhi court order: Advocate

A Delhi court on Thursday directed the makers of "Chhapaak" to give due credit to advocate Aparna Bhat for her contribution in the making of the film based on acid attack survivor Laxmi Agarwal. The lawyer might have got the order that she wanted but is sad as she had to take the legal route for "something that is so simple".

"It was passed by the Patiala House Court. I got the order that I wanted," Aparna said. Additional Senior Civil Judge Dr. Pankaj Sharma directed the film's director Meghna Gulzar and the makers of the film to mention the advocate's name in the credit roll.

The court also asked the makers to include the line, "Aparna Bhat continues to fight the cases of sexual and physical violence against women", during the screening of the film, which has actress Deepika Padukone playing the lead role and also serving as co-producer along with Meghna.

"The said line on screen may be with a rider that the same is with the court order," the judge said.

Aparna, who had earlier represented Laxmi in court in real life, said: "I am sad that I had to go to the court to get something that is so simple. It could have been done by the filmmakers without me asking for it."

"What will happen I don't know because they can challenge the order. I am not sure if they are going to keep quite. They have lots of resources. They can challenge the order. They can afford all kinds of lawyers," she added.

Asked how much she contributed in the making of "Chhapaak", she said: "I don't know how to answer that question. I am not going to say how much I contributed. I supported the process and I was engaged in the process to a very limited extent."

The makers of the Bollywood film, set to release on January 10, approached her two years ago. "The outline of the film was shared with me. I saw it in writing that they were going to acknowledge me. When they changed it and why they changed it, I don't know and that's not relevant to me," she said. (IANS)

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