Manoj Bajpayee’s Sirf Ek Bandaa Kaafi Hai slapped with legal notice by Asaram Bapu’s trust; makers respond

Just yesterday, the trailer of a riveting courtroom drama film - starring Manoj Bajpayee - was launched at an event in Mumbai. Inspired by true events, the upcoming ZEE5 original film Sirf Ek Bandaa Kaafi Hai follows the story of a regular session court lawyer, named PC Solanki, who dedicatedly fights a five-year-long case, trying to bring justice to a young girl wronged by a godman, under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act. Although the trailer has been received well, the Sant Shri Asharamji Charitable Trust has now slapped a legal notice on the makers of the movie, claiming that they are trying to portray Asaram Bapu as the godman in the film. 

Apparently, this interpretation came on the basis that PC Solanki was the same lawyer, who was instrumental in sending the 81-year-old self-styled godman to jail. Asaram is serving a life sentence in a Jodhpur jail for raping a minor girl. The charitable trust is now requesting the courts to issue prohibitory orders against the promotion and release of the film, which is slated to start streaming on May 23. Bandaa is directed by Apoorv Singh Karki and written by Deepak Kingrani.

According to their lawyers, “the film is highly objectionable and defamatory towards their client, and can tarnish his reputation and hit sentiments of his devotees and followers”, an ETimes report stated. 

Also read: Manoj Bajpayee on his Sirf Ek Bandaa Kaafi Hai character: ‘My focus was to understand his inner psyche’

Confirming that they have received the legal notice, producer Asif Shaikh said, “My legal team will respond to the legal notice, and we have acquired the rights of PC Solanki and the biopic is based on him. Now, if someone is saying that the film is based on them, they can think whatever they can and we can’t stop that. Only the film will be able to tell the truth, when it comes out.” Produced by Zee Studios, in collaboration with Bhanushali Studios, Bandaa also features Kaustav Sinha, Nikhil Pandey and Priyanka Setia in pivotal characters. 

Also read: Manoj Bajpayee on Sirf Ek Bandaa Kaafi Hai: I cannot go wrong with this story

Speaking at the trailer launch of the film, Manoj opened up about his character in the film. He spoke in Hindi that roughly translated to, “While playing PC Solanki in Bandaa, my focus was to understand and grasp his inner psyche. When he took this case in hand, what was his state of mind; what was he thinking while dealing with the case. Did he feel vulnerable or weak at any point, where did he derive his strength from. These are areas I have tried to pay more attention to while working on this character.”