Director-writer Jyoti Kapur Das claims rights on Tisca-starrer 'Chutney' amid rumours of it being remade into feature film

Director-writer Jyoti Kapur Das lays claim to the script rights to Tisca Chopra’s short, Chutney, which is rumoured to be made into a feature

Almost seven years after Tisca Chopra-starrer Chutney went viral, the short film is back in the news. Last Sunday, writer-director Jyoti Kapur Das issued a public notice through her lawyers in the trade magazine—Complete Cinema—claiming that she has the sole copyright to the short film. The notice was issued following rumours about Chopra remaking the short, also starring Adil Hussain and Rasika Dugal. “We went our separate ways after the film [was released].  Somebody informed me that Tisca was planning to make Chutney into a feature film, but she never told me about it. I wouldn’t believe it unless I heard it from her. My lawyers felt that it was important to cover all bases and squash any conceptions from anybody about Chutney,” says Das, adding that the film was a short story (Saag Meat) written by Bhisham Sahni. “We got permission from his daughter to adapt it into a short movie. There was no paperwork between Tisca’s production company, Royal Stag which commissioned the film, and me. It was a labour of love for us all, [with no remuneration]. If anybody wants to make Chutney into a feature film, they will have to contact me, since I registered the script.”

Jyoti Kapur Das

Asked if the short has any scope to be adapted into a full-length film, Das claims that while she doesn’t wish to rework the script, if someone hopes to remake it, they will have to go into backstories and make it a thriller. “I think Chutney is done. Although it has lots of back and future stories for all the characters, I would come to a commercial understanding if somebody wanted to make it. I will not block someone from making it, but they need to do it ethically. Tisca is not unprofessional,” says the writer.

When contacted, Chopra, who is all set to make her directorial debut with A Train from Chaprola—produced by Manish Malhotra and starring Radhika Apte—said she is currently busy working on another film. “Chutney is a lovely short film. We have all received so much love for it. There are no plans to make anything of it currently; maybe later, as I am busy with another [project] right now.”

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