Phantom Studios has officially filed a ₹250 crore lawsuit against JioStar in the Bombay High Court, seeking an immediate injunction to stop the release of Queen 2. The aggressive legal action targets the highly anticipated sequel just five days after lead actress Kangana Ranaut and director Vikas Bahl wrapped filming.
The dispute centers on intellectual property ownership, with Phantom asserting a 50 percent stake in the original 2014 blockbuster’s franchise rights. The newly revived studio claims JioStar and Bahl pushed the sequel into production without securing proper consent for adaptation or derivative works, according to court filings detailed by The Indian Express.
The root of this rights battle stretches back to the 2019 dissolution of the original Phantom Films, which Bahl co-founded alongside Anurag Kashyap, Vikramaditya Motwane, and Madhu Mantena. The banner was disbanded following allegations against Bahl during the #MeToo movement, but Mantena and producer Sheetal Talwar resurrected Phantom Studios in 2022. Now, the reorganized entity is actively enforcing its legacy IP claims, initiating this injunction request just days after filming wrapped.
Prior to escalating the matter to the Bombay High Court, Phantom Studios reportedly attempted to resolve the dispute privately. The studio issued public notices and sent repeated communications to both JioStar and Bahl to initiate settlement discussions, as outlined by The Statesman, but those overtures were allegedly ignored.
The original Queen remains a landmark release that grossed ₹95 crore globally and secured Kangana Ranaut a National Award for Best Actress. This ₹250 crore lawsuit casts a severe shadow over her return to the franchise, proving that Bollywood’s reorganized legacy studios are fully prepared to weaponize the courts to protect their stakes in lucrative derivative works.