Karan Johar pens open letter in response to Madhur Bhandarkar's allegation over 'Bollywood Wives' title

Days after Madhur Bhandarkar accused Karan Johar of using his title 'Bollywood Wives' and tweaking it to 'The Fabulous Lives of Bollywood Wives' for Dharma productions' upcoming reality web show on Netflix, filmmaker Karan Johar has responded with an open letter seeking an apology from the 'Fashion' director. 

Karan's show featuring four 'Bollywood wives' - Neelam Kothari, Seema Khan, Maheep Kapoor and Bhavana Panday, is all set to release on the OTT platform on November 27.

Meanwhile, apologising to Madhur Bhandarkar for causing 'any grievance during the course of the last few weeks', Karan clarified in his letter that his team has been "promoting the series with the hashtag "Fabulous Lives" on all social media platforms" and it is "the franchise title" that they "intend to go ahead with". 

Here's Karan Johar's open letter to Madhur Bhandarkar:

"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.

Best
Karan Johar"

To my dear friend @imbhandarkar  pic.twitter.com/l5oX2hmM8A

— Karan Johar (@karanjohar) November 26, 2020

Earlier, in a tweet, Madhur had alleged that Karan stole the title of his upcoming project 'Bollywood Wives', despite his refusal to use the title.

Bhandarkar tweeted about the incident and wrote, "Dear @karanjohar U & @apoorvamehta18 had asked me 4 the title #BollywoodWives for web, which I refused, as my project is underway."

Later, on getting no response from Karan or his team, Madhur corroborated his allegations with a letter from The Film and Television Producers Guild claiming that the Guild had declined Karan's request to use the title 'Bollywood wives'.

The letter by Indian Motion Picture Producers' Association stated on November 19, 2020, that Madhur Bhandarkar had the rights to the title 'Bollywood Wives'. Another post read that the Guild did 'not register the name in favour of Dharma Productions'.