ITV

Tag: SDCK

  • Zee, Kher square up for further battle after court verdict

    Zee, Kher square up for further battle after court verdict

    The courts have decided for the present but the battle lines are still drawn between peeved actor Anupam Kher and Zee Telefilms over his summary dismissal from the flop game show Sawaal Dus Crore Ka.

    After the Mumbai High Court on Wednesday turned down his petition against Zee, Kher is now exploring options of filing a damage or a defamation suit against Zee. “I have left it all to my lawyers. They will decide whether it will be a damage suit or defamation suit, or to apply for compensation according to the arbitration clause in the letter the court has given us,” Kher said at a hurriedly called press meet in New Delhi on Thursday.

    Zee, meanwhile, served a legal notice on Kher on Thursday asking him to apologise within 10 days for allegedly making defamatory statements against the company or face a Rs1,000 million defamation suit. It states that Kher had defamed the company in the press by saying the studio set up for the game show allegedly did not have proper electricity and that the programme was bad.

    He had also allegedly said there was no coordination between the organisers and participants. The contract did not provide for any of the parties to talk to the press regarding the game show, Zee sources added.

    SDCK will air its last episode on Friday with Kher and Manisha Koirala as hosts before taking a break to possibly emerge in a new avatar.

     

  • High Court rejects Kher’s petition against Zee

    High Court rejects Kher’s petition against Zee

    The Mumbai High Court on Wednesday quashed film actor Anupam Kher’s hopes of getting back at Zee Telefilms for the summary way in which he was dismissed as host of its flop game show Sawaal Dus Crore Ka (SDCK). In his petition, Kher had challenged his ‘arbitrary’ termination. He had also sought an injunction from the court to restrain Zee from discontinuing with the programme without him as a host.

    Zee in its defence blamed Kher as the one who breached the contract by speaking to the media and said it was justified in removing him from the show, Press Trust of India reported. After hearing both the parties at length, Justice KK Baam, rejected Kher’s petition on the ground that such a dispute could only be decided through arbitration. Since nothing survived in the petition, it was disposed of by the court. Kher is now free to refer the matter to arbitration or prefer an appeal against this order.

    “No doubt, Anupam is a good artist. Yet, he cannot compel Zee to retain him as a host,” the judge remarked. Kher had challenged the notice of 9 December served on him by Zee informing him of its decision to drop him from SDCK.

    Kher’s counsel Janak Dwarkadas contended that Zee had no right to terminate his client’s services without giving him 60 days prior notice as this was one of the conditions of the contract signed between Kher and Zee on 13 October. Zee’s erratic dealings had publicly humiliated and psychologically traumatised Kher, Dwarkadas claimed. Zee’s counsel V Tulzapurkar countered that Kher had himself committed breach of contract by his utterances in the media which included his saying he was not interested in the show. Neither Zee nor Kher responded to calls requesting further details on the developments.

    Meanwhile, the Cine TV and Artistes Association (CTVAA) committee, to which Kher had sent a complaint relating to the same case, was yet to meet on the matter. Association Secretary Dharmesh Tiwari had said on 14 December that a meeting would be taking place within a couple of days. Gathering all the committee members from their various commitments is proving a major hurdle.

  • Cine association panel meeting to decide action in Kher case

    Cine association panel meeting to decide action in Kher case

    The Cine TV and Artistes Association (CTVAA) on Thursday weighed into the dispute between sacked former host Anupam Kher and Zee Telefilms over the suspension of the problem-plagued game show Sawaal Dus Crore Ka (SDCK).

     

    As Zee desperately tried damage control measures to deal with the snowballing ruckus surrounding the sacking of Kher and co-host Manisha Koirala from SDCK, it got an unexpected shot in the arm from the CTVAA. Association Secretary Dharmesh Tiwari categorically denied the CTVAA had anything to do with the statements attributed to committee member Raza Murad that letters had been sent to Zee and Ashutosh Rana, the man the rumour mill says will replace Kher, seeking an explanation from both parties.

     

    Murad was quoted on Wednesday as having said that the CTVAA had sought a clarification from Zee following receipt of a complaint from Kher over the manner in which Kher’s services were terminated. Murad also said that Rana was asked to explain why he didn’t secure a no objection certificate from Kher before beginning negotiations with Zee.

     

    Tiwari clarified that unless the committee met and debated any issue no one was authorised to issue statements. He admitted the CTVAA had received a complaint from Kher but said the committee was still to meet to take up the matter. The meeting would take place in the next two days, he assured indiantelevision.com.

     

    Asked how Murad could have made statements if he had no authority, Tiwari said unless the CTVAA committee had a chance to get Murad’s version of the situation, he could not comment.

     

    Meanwhile, Kher himself has left the matter to the courts and doesn’t propose to follow up on any further action other than what he has already initiated. When contacted, Kher said the matter will come up for hearing in the next few days and his lawyers would take it from there.

  • Zee hems and haws over Kher eviction

    Zee hems and haws over Kher eviction

    Zee Telefilms has responded to the charge that it has asked Sawal Dus Crore Ka co-anchor Anupam Kher to go as part of its revamp. According to a Zee TV spokesperson, the issue is that “if Kher has got other commitments, he could well go. And if he is going then we will look at alternatives.”

    Anyone will tell you that that is quite a roundabout way of asking a person to go. The decision has surprised many an industry professional as they expected the axe to fall on co-host Manisha Koirala’s head, rather than Kher’s.

    Kher told local daily Indian Express that he had to leave five or six films for the show and he was being made the fall guy. He had also told indiantelevision.com sometime back that he had planned his film shooting schedules around SDCK. 

    However, Zee TV and Kher will part only if it is mutually agreed upon, the Zee TV spokesperson said. The spokesperson said no final decision had been taken about Kher’s replacement Ashutosh Rana.