MUMBAI: In a twist worthy of a courtroom thriller, the Karnataka high court has put the brakes on a Rs one lakh penalty slapped on PVR Cinemas and PVR Inox Ltd for their allegedly marathon-length advertisements. The cinema giants were ordered to deposit the sum with the consumer welfare fund, alongside compensation to a miffed moviegoer.

The plot thickened when justice M Nagaprasanna granted a stay order until 27 March, responding to a petition by the Multiplex Association of India and its stakeholder Shantanu Pai. Legal heavyweights Mukul Rohatgi and Uday Holla stepped into the spotlight to argue their case.

The original drama kicked off when Abhishek MR settled in to watch Sam Bahadur on 6 January 2024. What should have been a tidy 2 hours and 25 minutes turned into an extended sitting, as he endured what he called an "unnecessary" 25-minute pre-show advertisement marathon.

The Bengaluru Urban District Consumer Commission, playing hero to the movie-going masses, ordered PVR to compensate Abhishek for mental agony and legal costs. The commission went full director's cut, attempting to dictate how cinema halls should run their shows and banned advertisements altogether.

The petitioners argued that the consumer forum had overstepped its mark by treating a personal grievance like a public interest litigation.

The high court, giving the consumer forum's ruling two thumbs down, noted that their directions appeared to be "without jurisdiction.”

While the state government suggested an appeal to the state consumer forum, justice Nagaprasanna wasn't about to let legal technicalities steal the show, invoking Article 226 of the Constitution.

For now, it seems the credits haven't quite rolled on this legal blockbuster. The next hearing is scheduled for 27 March  where the future of pre-show adverts hangs in the balance. As they say in the business: to be continued...