File No 323, starring Suniel Shetty and Anurag Kashyap, has been making headlines lately due to its contentious and current theme. According to reports, the lifestyles of suspected financial runaways from India like Vijay Mallya and Nirav Modi served as inspiration for the movie. Mehul Choksi, a businessman who has been mentioned in publications concerning File No 323, has now sent a cease-and-desist letter to the movie’s producers and director.
Choksi, through his attorney Ayush Jindal, has sent notices to the director Karthik K, producers Kalol Das, Parth Rawal, and other members of the production team, alleging that articles about File No 323 are damaging his reputation and that he is trying to take legal action to address the defamation. Producers of File No. 323 are instructed to “cease and desist from writing, filming, producing such misleading, unsubstantiated false, and unverified film(s) against my Client in any format, including motion picture, TV series, OTT series, documentary, etc. and to within 72 hours of the receipt of this Notice indicate cessation of all work in relation to the Proposed Movie,” according to the notice. They are seeking an apology from the producers as well.
When asked by ETimes, the movie’s producers Kalol Das and Parth Raval confirmed that Mehul Choksi will not be mentioned in the movie in any way and that his accusations of defamation are unfounded. Added Parth Raval: “We have received a notice from individuals who have stolen money from ordinary Indians, fled the Indian government, and are now hiding abroad. We’re going to tell a tale based on information that is in the public domain. Our movie will give well-researched facts and information about economic criminals rather than disparaging anyone’s reputation.”
The same ideas were reinforced by Kalol Das, who also said, “Mehul Choksi has complained that we have damaged his reputation, yet he was the one who damaged his own reputation. Only publicly available information is being recreated here. Neither Mehul Choksi nor Vijay Mallya nor Nirav Modi are the subjects of our biopic. We’re going to create a tale about criminals who commit economic crimes against India’s working class.”
As of now, their film is on a moving track and both the producers agreed to issue a legal reply soon.