YashRaj to pay ~15K to woman for excluding song from movie ‘Fan’

MUMBAI: In a first, the film production house, YashRaj Films (YRF), has been ordered by the National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission (NCDRC) to compensate a moviegoer for editing out a song ‘Jabra Fan’, which was used to promote Shah Rukh Khan-starrer ‘Fan’ on television (TV).

Afreen Fatima Zaidi, 32, a teacher from Aurangabad, Maharashtra, has been awarded ~10,000 and ~5,000 by the NCDRC as compensation and litigation costs, respectively, after she had complained against YRF in 2016 as she “felt cheated” to find that “Jabra Fan” was not used in “Fan”, despite it having been used in trailers.

Zaidi said her children were excited when they watched the song on TV during the film’s promotions and wanted to see the superstar in “his new avatar”. “Although I wanted them to watch ‘The Jungle Book’, they requested me to let them have a feel of ‘Fan’. But, they were disappointed when the song never appeared. I felt cheated and decided to lodge a complaint in the district forum. My case was dismissed as the district forum was unsure if I qualify as a consumer . Then, I moved the Maharashtra Consumer Commission, which ruled in my favour in 2017. They directed YRF to pay me a sum of ~15,000. The production house challenged the verdict and moved the NCDRC. They, too, ruled in my favour. I believe every film should come with a disclaimer,” said Zaidi, whose husband Zishan, a lawyer, and his colleague, Saud Deshmukh, fought the case. “We

› They (children) were disappointed when the song never appeared during the film. I felt cheated... AFREEN FATIMA ZAIDI, Petitioner

are happy that we have got the order in our favour and it is the responsibility of YRF to accept their mistake... It took us four years to get the compensation... We must have spent around ~80,000 on this case,” said Zaidi.

NCDRC presiding member, VK Jain said, “What’s the logic behind including the song in the promo but excluding it while exhibiting the movie.” On whether this case would set a precedent, Jain said, “We plan to treat this on a case to case basis. However, in this case, we felt that the consumer was cheated.”

Vishal Dadlani, who composed the song along with Shekhar Ravjianii, said, “The song was never meant to be in the film and had nothing to do with the narrative. It was composed to promote the film. Perhaps, the lesson here is that if one wishes to have a song to promote a film, the filmmaker may have to carry a foolproof disclaimer.”

YRF refused to comment on the matter.