Kangana Ranaut’s Queen 2 faces Rs 2.5 billion legal battle as Phantom Studios calls sequel ‘unauthorised’
Within days of wrapping production, the film has hit new hurdles
For a film that became a turning point for Bollywood, the journey of Queen appears to have entered an unexpected chapter. A decade after Kangana Ranaut’s Rani walked out of a broken engagement and embarked on her honeymoon alone, the much-awaited sequel has found itself at the centre of a legal dispute.
Earlier this year, Kangana Ranaut announced that she had finally reunited with director Vikas Bahl for Queen 2 after years of trying to bring the sequel together. The team recently completed filming, with Kangana and Bahl marking the final day of shoot by cutting a cake and describing the experience as a “wonderful experience”.
But within days of wrapping production, the film faced a major hurdle.
Phantom Studios moves Bombay High Court over Queen 2
Phantom Studios has filed a lawsuit in the Bombay High Court against JioStar, the company backing Queen 2, alleging that the upcoming film is an unauthorised sequel.
The production house has reportedly sought Rs 250 crore in damages. According to a report by Mid-Day, Phantom Studios had approached JioStar multiple times for settlement discussions, but the requests were not addressed, leaving the studio to pursue legal action.
Queen 2, which began production earlier this year, has already completed filming and has moved into the post-production stage.
Phantom Studios claims that it owns 50% of the rights to Queen, including the rights to create sequels. The studio has maintained that it has not approved any sequel, adaptation or derivative work based on the 2014 film.
The Phantom Films connection
Queen was originally produced by Phantom Films, the production house founded by Vikas Bahl, Anurag Kashyap, Vikramaditya Motwane and Madhu Mantena.
However, after allegations against Bahl emerged during the MeToo movement, disagreements reportedly surfaced among the founding members. As the founders exited the company one after another, Phantom Films was eventually dissolved in 2019.
In 2022, Mantena, along with producer Sheetal Talwar, revived the banner as Phantom Studios. The company later produced Advait Chandan’s romantic comedy Loveyapa, starring Junaid Khan and Khushi Kapoor.
Queen’s remake journey also faced hurdles
Following the success of Queen, four South Indian remakes were announced in 2018.
The Tamil version, directed by Ramesh Aravind, featured Kajal Aggarwal in Kangana Ranaut’s role. The Telugu remake, That Is Mahalaxmi, starred Tamannaah Bhatia and was directed by Prasanth Varma. The Malayalam remake, Zam Zam, directed by Neelakanta, featured Manjima Mohan, while the Kannada adaptation, also directed by Aravind, starred Parul Yadav.
However, none of the four remakes eventually reached theatres. While production delays initially affected the projects, the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) later raised objections over certain scenes in some versions. The films, produced by Manu Kumaran, ultimately remained unreleased due to an ownership dispute.
