Harry Potter faked by Bollywood

[Señor Malo]

• <LI class=byline>Hari Puttar and the half-baked lawsuit?
  
  Warner Bros are sueing an Indian studio for breach for intellectual property laws
  
  • <LI class=byline>Ben Child
  • guardian.co.uk,
  • Monday August 25 2008 10

And this one contains spices ... Jim Broadbent and Daniel Radcliffe in a scene from the forthcoming Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

Warner Bros is suing an Indian studio over a film whose title it believes is too close to that of its hugely successful Harry Potter series.
Mumbai based Mirchi Movies is set to release its film Hari Puttar - A Comedy of Terrors on September 12 in the subcontinent. But a lawsuit filed last week by Warner could yet see it pulled from the screen.
A spokesperson for Warner Bros said: "We have recently commenced proceedings against parties involved in the production and distribution of a movie entitled Hari Puttar.
"Warner Bros values and protects intellectual property rights. However, it is our policy not to discuss publicly the details of any ongoing litigation."
The Indian film appears to bear little relation to the movies based on JK Rowling's tales of a boy wizard. Hari Puttar is about a 10-year-old boy who moves to Britain and manages to save his father's top secret computer chip from some burglars. It would appear to be closer to an Indian version of Home Alone, the John Hughes-scripted comedy which made Macaulay Culkin a star.
Mirchi Movies' chief operating officer, Munish Purii, said: "We registered the Hari Puttar title in 2005, and it's unfortunate that Warner has chosen to file a case so close to our film's release. In my opinion, I don't think our title has any similarity or links with Harry Potter."
The case is due to hit the Bombay high court on August 25. The release date of the next Harry Potter film, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, was recently pushed back from late November this year, to July 2009, amid howls of protest from fans. That decision is not thought to be linked to the current legal proceedings.