The controversy surrounding the upcoming film Kala Hiran: The Battle for Legacy a project heavily inspired by Salman Khan’s infamous 1998 blackbuck poaching case has taken a volatile legal turn. Producer Amit Jani has served a stern legal notice to veteran actor Govind Namdev, demanding a public apology within seven days and a hefty compensation fine of ₹50 lakh.
The sudden legal backlash comes just days after Namdev publicly distanced himself from the controversial project, claiming he was misled by the film’s production house, Jani FireFox Films.
The conflict erupted when Govind Namdev, who previously shared the screen with Salman Khan in the 2009 blockbuster Wanted, expressed deep distress over the film’s direction.
In a recent interview, Namdev revealed he was “shaken to the core” upon viewing the film’s official teaser, asserting that the finalized project looked entirely different from what he had originally shot. The actor alleged that the filmmakers kept him completely in the dark regarding the true narrative and the portrayal of the lead character. Namdev maintained that had he known the movie’s actual premise from the start, he would have flatly refused to join the cast.
In response to these damaging claims, producer Amit Jani took to social media platform X to share a copy of the legal notice, warning that criminal defamation and legal action will follow if the actor fails to comply. While the creators of Kala Hiran have intentionally avoided explicitly using Salman Khan’s name, the first-look teaser leaves little to the imagination. It introduces a protagonist named ‘Ayaan Khan’ (played by Kashif Iqbal Khan), whose styling, mannerisms, and physical appearance are undeniably designed to mirror the Bollywood superstar.
This isn’t the first time the Bharat S. Shrinate-directed venture has courted legal disaster. Actor Sonu Mmishra, who recently worked on a supporting role in Salman Khan’s Sikandar, revealed to the press that he walked out of Kala Hiran after just two days of filming because directors allegedly pressured him to badmouth Salman Khan for promotional traction. Prior to targeting Namdev, producer Amit Jani had already received a direct legal notice from Salman Khan’s legal team, which Jani defiantly tore up in public. Following that stunt, the producer claimed he began receiving serious death threats over the movie’s explosive script.