Madhur Bhandarkar recently accused director Karan Johar of stealing his title ‘Bollywood Wives’ and turning it into ‘The Fabulous Lifes of Bollywood Wives’.
The show is Dharma productions’ upcoming reality web show on Netflix. Johar responded with an apology letter that he posted on Twitter.
In the apology letter, Johar writes, “Dear Madhur, Our relationship goes back a long way and we have both been a part of this close-knit industry for many, many years. Through all these years. I have been an ardent admirer of your work and I have always wished the best for you. I know you have been upset with us. I humbly apologise for any grievance that has been caused to you during the course of the last few weeks. However, I would want to clarify that we have chosen this new and different title -The Fabulous Lives of Bollywood Wives keeping in mind the non-fiction format of our reality-based franchise series.
As our title was distinct, I did not foresee it upsetting you as it has and for that I duly apologise. I want to inform you that we have been promoting our series with the hashtag “Fabulous Lives” on all social media platforms, which is the franchise title we intend to go ahead with. We assure you that the format, nature, audience and the title of our series are different and would not in any manner dent or encumber the exploitation of your work.
I hope we can move away and onward from this and continue to make exceptionally good content for our audiences. I wish you the very best for all your endeavours and look forward to watching your work.
BestKaran Johar“
Karan Johar’s show ‘The Fabulous Lives of Bollywood Wives’ features four in real life wives Neelam Kothari, Seema Khan, Maheep Kapoor and Bhavana Panday. The show is all set to release on Netflix on the 27th of November.
In response to Karan Johar’s apology, Madhur Bhandarkar himself tweeted that he wishes to not carry this any further.
“Dear Karan,
Thank you for your response.
This is indeed a close-knit industry and it operates on mutual trust and respect. When we blatantly disregard norms that we ourselves have established, then it makes very little sense calling ourselves a ‘fraternity’. I didn’t hesitate a moment in the past before granting you the title “GUTKA” in 2013, that you had requested from me and hence I would have expected the same courtesy in return when I decline you the use of a title I had duly registered, and which I did to intend to part with. The fact that you went ahead and used the title anyway despite our conversation and despite it also having been rejected by the trade associations, is what had upset me deeply. This is not how I believe real relationships work.
But let’s move forward. I accept your apology and would like to leave things here. I too wish you well in your future endeavours.
Best,
Madhur“