Warner set to tackle Mumbai's Hari Puttar
Last Updated: Monday, August 25, 2008 | 11:57 AM ET
CBC News
Hari Puttar — A Comedy of Terrors, a film soon to be released by a Mumbai-based movie studio, is causing consternation in the Muggle world of Hollywood.
Hari Puttar is about a 10-year-old boy who moves to Britain and saves his father's top secret computer chip from some burglars — without the aid of magic.
But Warner Bros. is upset about the similarity between the name and its successful Harry Potter film franchise about a boy wizard played by Daniel Radcliffe.
It has filed suit in India against producer-distributor Mirchi Movies, which was set to release the film Sept. 12 on the subcontinent.
Warner confirmed Monday to the Hollywood Reporter that it had filed an application to protect its intellectual property rights, but would not give further details of the suit.
The Hari Puttar name was a comic gag in India when the first of the Harry Potter books and films were released.
Hari is a common Indian name and "puttar" means "son" in the Punjabi language.
But Mirchi Movies chief executive Munish Purii denied his movie title had "any similarity or links with Harry Potter."
He was set to appear in court Monday in Mumbai, formerly known as Bombay, to defend his film.
"We registered the Hari Puttar title in 2005, and it's unfortunate that Warner has chosen to file a case so close to our film's release," he said.
Zain Khan plays the boy wonder, whose full name is Hari Prasad Dhoonda, in the Hindi-language film, which also stars veteran actor Jackie Shroff. The family movie is directed by Rajesh Bajaj.
Meanwhile, Warner has delayed release of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, the sixth film in the story of the boy wizard, until July 2009.
