They wrapped the shoot with a cake and a celebration. Five days later, a Rs 250 crore lawsuit arrived instead. Turns out, nobody asked Phantom Studios if this sequel could happen.
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Kangana Ranaut and director Vikas Bahl finally reunited this year to make ‘Queen 2’, the sequel to their beloved 2013 film ‘Queen’. The two had wrapped shooting just last week, celebrating with a cake cutting ceremony and calling the experience wonderful. But just five days later, the film ran straight into legal trouble.
Phantom Studios has filed a lawsuit in the Bombay High Court against JioStar, the studio backing ‘Queen 2’. The lawsuit seeks Rs 250 crore in damages, alleging that the sequel was made without proper authorisation.
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According to reports by Mid-Day, Phantom Studios had reached out to JioStar multiple times, hoping to settle the matter through discussions. However, JioStar reportedly did not respond to these repeated attempts at settlement.
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Despite these efforts, neither JioStar nor director Vikas Bahl engaged in any settlement discussions. This left Phantom Studios with no option but to pursue legal action.
Phantom Studios holds 50 percent rights to the original Queen film. This includes the rights to make sequels, adaptations or any other derivative work based on the film. According to Phantom Studios, it never gave consent for Queen 2 or any related project.
Meanwhile, production on Queen 2 has continued moving forward. The film went on floors at the start of this year and has now completed filming, entering its post-production stage.
Queen was originally produced by Phantom Films, a production company founded by Vikas Bahl, Anurag Kashyap, Vikramaditya Motwane and Madhu Mantena. The film went on to win the National Award for Best Feature Film in Hindi.
Trouble began for the company after Bahl’s name surfaced during the MeToo movement in India. This led to serious disagreements among the four founding members.
As tensions grew, the founders began exiting the company one after another. By 2019, Phantom Films was officially disbanded.
The company did not stay shut forever. In 2022, Madhu Mantena, along with producer Sheetal Talwar, revived the banner under a new name, Phantom Studios. This new company went on to produce Advait Chandan’s romantic comedy Loveyapa, which starred Junaid Khan and Khushi Kapoor, released last year.
The original Queen was written by Anvita Dutt and told the story of Rani, played by Kangana Ranaut. After being left by her fiancé, played by Rajkummar Rao, Rani decides to go on her honeymoon alone instead of canceling the trip altogether.
During her solo journey to Paris, Rani forms unexpected friendships along the way, including with a character named Vijayalakshmi, played by Lisa Haydon. By the end of the film, Rani chooses to return the engagement ring to her fiancé, who by then wants to reconcile and still marry her.
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