Just wrapped, now in court: Why Kangana Ranaut's Queen 2 faces a ₹250-crore lawsuit

Kangana Ranaut's Queen 2 has run into legal trouble just days after filming wrapped, with Phantom Studios filing a ₹250-crore lawsuit against JioStar India Private Limited in the Bombay High Court over the alleged "unauthorised use" of its intellectual property. The suit seeks an injunction on the film's release as well as damages of ₹250 crore.

According to the suit, filed through legal firm Rashmikant and Partners, Phantom Studios owns 50 per cent of the rights to the 2014 film Queen, including the rights to any future sequels or prequels. The studio has claimed that an agreement signed at the time the original film was made gave both Phantom and JioStar equal rights over any sequel or prequel.

Earlier, sources told Mid-Day that Phantom Studios had repeatedly conveyed its objections to JioStar and director Vikas Bahl before moving court. The report also said settlement discussions had taken place, but no resolution was reached. Another source alleged that Phantom decided to begin legal proceedings after learning that Queen 2 had completed filming.

Responding to the lawsuit, JioStar denied the allegations and said the upcoming film is not linked to the 2014 hit. In a statement, the company said, "The new film has an original, independent story. It has no narrative, character or creative connection to any prior work, and is neither a sequel nor a prequel to any existing title." JioStar also argued that the title cannot be exclusively owned by one party. "The word 'Queen' is a part of the English language. No party can claim exclusive ownership over a common noun and any such claim has no basis in law," the statement added.

Queen 2 reunites Kangana Ranaut with director Vikas Bahl, who directed the 2014 coming-of-age drama. The film went on floors earlier this year and wrapped production a few days ago. Kangana recently shared a behind-the-scenes picture from the set on Instagram Stories, where she was seen feeding a slice of cake to Bahl after the shoot ended.

Queen was originally produced by Phantom Films, which was founded by Bahl, Anurag Kashyap, Vikramaditya Motwane and Madhu Mantena. The film won the National Award for Best Feature Film in Hindi. However, after Bahl's name surfaced during the MeToo movement, disagreements emerged among the four founding members.

As the founders left the company one by one, Phantom Films was disbanded in 2019. Mantena, along with producer Sheetal Talwar, revived the banner in 2022 as Phantom Studios, which produced Advait Chandan's romantic comedy Loveyapa, starring Junaid Khan and Khushi Kapoor, last year.

Led by Kangana Ranaut, Queen was a landmark film in her career, becoming a ₹100-crore earner at the box office and strengthening her position as a bankable star. The case over Queen 2 now places the film's release under a cloud, with Phantom seeking to stop its release and JioStar maintaining that it is an original work with no connection to the earlier film.