Roadblock for the release of Daali Dhananjaya’s Hoysala, as another team stakes claim to title

Daali Dhananjaya’s milestone 25th film, Hoysala, is up for a March 30 theatrical outing and the team has begun promotions, having released a couple of songs already. But now comes news that the team may not be able to meet this date with audiences. Apparently there is another film by the same title and that team has filed an injunction on the release of Dhananjaya’s movie.

Normally, when there is a title dispute in Kannada film circles, there’s usually only one finished product and another party claiming ownership of the title, which is usually sorted out among them. For instance, at the moment, Ramya’s debut production Swathi Mutthina Male Haniye is in a dispute with filmmaker Rajendra Singh Babu, who says that the title belongs to him. And now comes the news that a film called Hoysala has not only been registered, but made and censored too. Produced and directed by Hoysala Murthy, who also plays the lead in the film, Hoysala was registered as a title in 2017.

Hoysala Murthy admits that filming of his movie was delayed, but he managed to finish it and then got it censored in October 2022. Amid all this, when KRG Studios announced that Dhananjaya’s film would be called Hoysala, Murthy claims that he approached the Karnataka Film Chamber of Commerce seeking help to sort out the title issue. He says that the chamber was not helpful and as KRG Studios continued with promotional activities, he was left with no other choice but to seek legal assistance. Murthy has now got a stay order on the release of Dhananjaya’s film and says that he is looking at bringing his film to theatres on March 30, instead.

Murthy’s contention is that if KRG Studios goes ahead and releases the film as Hoysala, his movie will be whitewashed at the box office. Incidentally, it was earlier reported that the title Hoysala belonged to the late producer Koti Ramu, who wanted to make a film with Shivarajkumar in the lead.