Mumbai Court Rejects Santosh Kumar's Plea to Stay Dhurandhar 2 OTT Release
A Mumbai civil court has rejected filmmaker Santosh Kumar's plea to stay the digital release of director Aditya Dhar's film Dhurandhar 2 over script plagiarism allegations. In an order dated June 4, 2026, the court cleared the way for the movie's scheduled release on the JioHotstar OTT platform.
Filmmaker Santosh Kumar had approached the court seeking an ad-interim injunction against the digital rollout. He claimed that Dhar had used elements from his original script. However, the Mumbai court rejected the plea, allowing the film's digital release to proceed.
Judge Yunus Kharadi observed that Kumar had failed to disclose a previous, similar petition he had filed before the Karnataka High Court. The Karnataka High Court had already dismissed that petition, granting Kumar the liberty to seek appropriate remedy before a competent forum. The Mumbai court noted that this fact had not been disclosed in the present suit, stating that it prima facie showed the plaintiff had not come with clean hands.
The court also highlighted that Kumar sought directions against an OTT platform without making any streaming service a party to the lawsuit. Additionally, the judge pointed out that the plaintiff submitted no comparative material to establish similarities between his script and the film.
According to the court order, without verified comparisons of the script and dialogues, the relief of an injunction and the appointment of a Court Commissioner could not be granted. The court further observed that rights connected to the film had already been created in favour of third parties, making an injunction impractical at this stage.
In dismissing the plea, the court ruled that the balance of convenience lay against the plaintiff. Judge Kharadi stated that staying the release would cause irreparable loss to the defendants, whereas if Kumar eventually succeeds in the suit, he can claim financial compensation.
Following the legal clearance, Dhurandhar 2 premiered digitally on June 4. Directed by Aditya Dhar, the sequel stars Ranveer Singh alongside Sara Arjun, Gaurav Gera, Sanjay Dutt, R Madhavan, Rakesh Bedi, and Arjun Rampal.
