There’s a lot of pressure on filmmakers these days. They have to promote their films properly & systematically so as to get a good response after release. Promotional strategies differ; some use aggressive strategies, while some use subtle yet effective ones.
The latest way of promoting movies is “Promotional songs” and many makers are resorting to this method in order to get more recognition. These songs become popular in no time and star the main actor/actress so that they become viral in no time.
If you remember, Fan makers had come up with an excellent song “Jabra Fan”. However, it was excluded from the theatrical version of Fan & was purely created for promotional purpose. Fans were very disappointed after they came to know that the song is not included in the film. The most disappointed one amongst them was Afreen Zaidi, who literally filed a weird complaint against the makers.
Well, this 27 year old fan of ‘Jabra Fan’ sought help of District Consumer Forum in order to oppose this practice; she felt cheated because of the absence of her favorite song. Since the District Consumer Forum rejected her plea, she approached the Aurangabad Circuit Bench of Maharashtra State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission.
She had filed a complaint against director Maneesh Sharma, SRK and producers and sought compensation. According to reports, she asked them to pay her a compensation of Rs 65,000, which included ticket price, snacks, travel, mental harassment costs as well as fees of the lawyer.
Now, the production house has been ordered to pay her a compensation of Rs 15,000. KB Gawali & SM Shembole, the judicial members said,
“We are of the view that… the act of not showing the said title song ‘jabra fan’ in the movie, though the same was widely played for promoting the said movie, amounts to unfair trade practice. We, therefore, conclude that the opponent, i.e, respondent number 2 (Aditya Chopra) has committed not only deficiency in service but also unfair trade practice”
So now she will finally get Rs 15,000 i.e. 10,000 for mental harassment & 5,000 for other costs. No doubt, this complaint was a weird one but still, she managed to claim compensation on the basis of laws.