Bombay HC: No Copyright on Common Themes; Dismisses Plea Against ‘Dream Girl 2’

The Bombay High Court has dismissed a copyright infringement plea filed against Balaji Telefilms and the makers of the Ayushmann Khurrana-starrer Dream Girl 2, ruling that common themes and generic plots cannot be granted copyright protection.

Justice R I Chagla, presiding over the case, rejected the petition filed by screenwriter Ashim Bagchi, who alleged that his script was plagiarised by producer Ekta Kapoor’s Balaji Telefilms for the 2023 comedy film Dream Girl 2. The court found the claim to be frivolous and ordered Bagchi to pay a total of ₹10 lakh to the five defendants—₹2 lakh each—as compensation.

The court noted that copyright law does not extend to general ideas or themes, such as gender disguise, which is central to Dream Girl 2. In support of this, Justice Chagla cited the 1993 Hollywood film Mrs. Doubtfire, which also revolves around a male character disguising himself as a woman—a widely explored narrative in global cinema.

“The idea of cross-dressing or gender disguise has been used in several films, and cannot be claimed exclusively by any one creator,” the court observed, adding that copyright protection is only applicable to original expressions of an idea, not the idea itself.

The court’s strong dismissal and imposition of penalties signal a growing judicial intolerance toward unsubstantiated intellectual property claims in the entertainment industry.