Mumbai, July 17, 2007 (Tuesday) - The embers of the Ram Gopal Varma Ke Sholay controversy have died out. Propelled by his eagerness to get an August release for his film, maverick director RGV, who was dragged to court by the Sippys for allegedly attempting to cash in on the popularity of the 1975 classic Sholay , has changed his film's title to Ram Gopal Varma Ki Aag .

Both Varma and Sascha Sippy, grandson of G P Sippy, the producer of Sholay, claim to have come out trumps in the Sholay -versus- Sholay battle. The Sippys had challenged Varma's version of the film, claiming he had violated the trademark and copyright of the original movie by using Sholay in his film's title, apart from using the names of popular characters such as the baddie, Gabbar Singh.

Last October, the Sippys got an ex parte order from the Delhi High Court, restraining Varma from using the words Sholay and 'Gabbar' in his film. As the court battle dragged on, Varma completed his film, as per TOI.

The issue of copyright on film titles was thrashed out by both sides. Varma's lawyers, Ravi Kadam and Amit Naik, argued that a title had no copyright or trademark, and that any trademark registration of 'Sholay' did not come in Varma's way.

"There is no trademark on characters, only on goods," they said, adding that the only thing that mattered in this case was registering the film title with the Indian Motion Picture Association, which Varma had done. And, they added, the Sippys had not raised any objection at the time this was done.