Consumer Court Directs YRF to Compensate for Omitting ‘Fan’ Song

The petitioner filed a complaint saying she was upset that ‘Jabra Fan’ was used in the trailer and not the film.

A woman filed a complaint against YRF for not including a song from the trailer of Fan in the film.

(Photo Courtesy: Yash Raj Films)

Film production house Yash Raj Films (YRF) has reportedly been directed by the National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission (NCDRC) to pay Rs 10,000 as compensation to Afreen Fatima Zaidi of Aurangabad who was upset by the exclusion of the song ‘Jabra Fan’ from Shah Rukh Khan’s 2016 film Fan. The song featured in the film’s trailer but was absent from the movie.

Zaidi had earlier approached the district forum, which rejected the petition, and then moved the Maharashtra State Consumer Commission which, in 2017, directed YRF to compensate her with Rs 10,000 along with litigation cost of Rs 5,000.

According to Bollywood Hungama, the NCDRC observed deemed the exclusion of the song an “unfair trade practice” and said that a person who chose to watch the film on seeing the trailer could feel “deceived, disappointed and dejected”. The committee also rejected YRF’s claim that the makers and actor had publicly declared that the song would not be part of the film saying that the viewer may not be aware of this interview. It added that it was justifiable for a person to believe a movie would feature a song that was used in promotional material. It also opposed YRF’s defence that the woman cannot be called a consumer, saying that she paid the price for the film tickets, which is shared among the exhibitor, distributor, and producer of the movie.