Actor Dhanush has landed in legal trouble after production house Thenandal Films reportedly served him a notice over a long-delayed project, seeking ₹20 crore in compensation.

According to a OneIndia Tamil report, the banner claims Dhanush had signed Naan Rudran in 2016 but never moved forward with the shoot. The actor had allegedly committed to both star in and direct the film. While the makers agreed to later changes, they claim he failed to provide the complete screenplay, leaving the project stalled for years. The complaint further states the company spent nearly ₹20 crore in advance and also incurred costs involving actors Nagarjuna Akkineni and SJ Suryah, who were expected to feature in the film.

Through the notice, the makers have alleged major financial losses due to the delay and have demanded compensation, warning of further legal action if their demands are not met within the stipulated timeframe.

In the notice, advocate A Chidambaram claimed the film stalled because “Dhanush gave call sheets to other films without completing work on this pending project”.

Dhanush has not issued an official statement so far. 

Having begun his professional journey as a Radio Jockey (RJ), actor Aparshakti Khurana, on World Radio Day, today, credits the medium for honing his confidence and craft needed in his acting career.

“Radio has taught me a lot, including teamwork, and how to be impromptu, as I did live shows that have helped me as an actor as well as a host. It has really shaped my future since,” he says.

While the medium’s popularity seems to have waned over the years, Aparshakti continues to hold radio close to his heart. “The appeal might have reduced over time, but its charm can never fade away. I still love listening to it when I am driving. It connects you to a very different world and gives you food for thought about the things that are happening around the world,” he shares.

Among his many memories as an RJ, the one that stands out is when he got the chance to interview actor Shah Rukh Khan for Ra.One (2011). “At that point, I had no plan of becoming a film actor. I was doing theatre, but I couldn’t see any light at the end of the tunnel in this journey of becoming an actor on screen. I was completely in awe of him, and it felt like my reason for becoming an RJ had fulfilled that day,” he recalls fondly.

He also shares a funny memory from his time as an RJ, which still makes him chuckle. “Once I was live on radio, and I had played the music after finishing my part, but I forgot to switch off my mic. I was telling my producer how mean our boss has been to both of us, and it all went on air. People who were listening to it could all relate to it,” he laughs.

Actor Shahid Kapoor has played brooding men before, but as O'Romeo releases today, he appears surprisingly at ease. Calm, measured, almost detached from the chaos his character brings to screen. Excerpts...

In spirit, I would say yes to the latter! But from a professional POV, no. I don’t think any artist can give themselves to something unless they connect with it. When the connection is not there, there is always something missing in the product. In O'Romeo, of course it’s the titular part; I play Ustraa. And with Vishal Bhardwaj, it’s always a world that he creates. Ustraa’s attitude is that of Romeo. If, as creative people, you don’t connect, it is wrong for you to do the film. If you won’t be honest, it is unfair for everybody else. I very much connected with this film. I had one preset in my head before I met him, and I was very clear that at this stage in my career, I don’t want to do a film that is too experimental or a film meant for a smaller, intellectual audience and not for a wider audience, who have a simpler mindset and whose approach to filmmaking is that they go to theatres to get entertained. There’s the cinema you love and the cinema that people love. The whole endeavour has been for years to find a Ganga-Jamuna moment between them, to meet a middle ground. This film is an attempt at achieving that; it’s meant for an intelligent audience but also very much like a typical, mass audience.

Every film finds a home, and Sunny Leone’s Kennedy has found one after a three-year wait. Director Anurag Kashyap’s neo-noir crime thriller is set to premiere on ZEE5 next week, and the actor can’t wait to see the audience’s response to it. After all, Leone considers Kennedy an opportunity of a lifetime. She remembers going into the shoot, eager to be moulded by Kashyap into her character Charlie. Oddly, that included mastering a peculiar laugh.

Recalling Kashyap’s strange demand from her, Leone said, “Anurag sir sent me reference videos of how Charlie’s laugh should be. I saw the videos and thought, ‘How am I going to do this?’ Then I started practising laughing everywhere I went — in the plane, in the car, even mid-conversation with somebody! I remember I was on the set of a song, dressed in glamorous clothes, with 100 dancers around me, and I was practising my laugh!”

That naturally makes us curious about who featured in the reference videos. But Leone isn’t one to spill the details. She teased, “I’ll give you a hint. The reference video was of two beautiful, amazing actresses in Bollywood. [Their] laugh is loud and unabashed, comes straight from the gut and the heart.”

Unabashed is also how many would describe Kashyap. But the actor, who worked for the first time with the director, asserted that he is different from his public image. “We look at his films or an interview and have a perception, but that is not what you get when you meet him. 

He is warm. He is like a big teddy bear, and so easy to work with. He makes you feel heard, seen, and values your opinions.”

Troubles continue for Vikram Bhatt, who, along with his wife Shwetambari, was granted interim bail, subject to bail bonds, on February 13 in a Rs. 30 crore fraud case. Days after casting director Parag Chadha called out Bhatt for alleged non-payment of dues on the 2023 film, 1920: Horrors Of The Heart, more voices have come to the fore.

A crew member, on the condition of anonymity, told mid-day, “Rs 20 lakh was the amount agreed upon as my fee. Not a single penny was paid, neither to my assistants nor to me.”

1920: Horrors Of The Heart was directed by Bhatt's daughter Krishna Bhatt. His wife is also credited as one of the producers. It starred Avika Gor, Danish Pandor and Rahul in lead roles. While the primary actors were fully paid, the crew alleges that it faced a common trajectory from the producers-- excuses, delays and eventual shut down.

Sneh Sharma, who was Gor's make-up artist on the film, claimed she chased the production for months to get her dues. To date, one lakh of her total payment is pending.

She recalled, “We kept following with the accountants, executive producers, Vikram Bhatt’s team, but none of them would give an answer. My hairstylist was on the verge of getting kicked out of her house. They paid us initially, but during the second schedule, we were told there were no funds. Yet, they went on to shoot another film!” 

Sharma, whose fee was decided as Rs. 18,000 per day, alleged she got only half her fee by the time shoot finished, and had to take the help of a cine workers’ association to get a part of her rightful pay. "I also contacted Krishna. She dismissed it by saying she wasn't part of the accounts team."

In the meantime, a few extra days of shoot for the film came up, but Sharma put her foot down. "If you're not paying, why would I come? So, they hired some other makeup artist for free." 

Chadha, who collaborated with Bhatt on as many as nine films in a span of three years, admittedly had it much worse.

The casting director lamented, “I wasn’t paid even a per cent of my casting fees. I worked on the film with my team of six people, and I had to pay them. It became a routine that every morning you would get up and call four people from the same production house, who are telling you different things. And you would hope ki kisi ki insaaniyat toh jaage. But when the signing authorities aren't paying, what will people under them do? The end of 2023 was the last time I connected with them."

What worked against the crew was lack of contracts. A senior crew member told mid-day that when he mentioned to Bhatt the need of a contract, he was told, "'We are family.'" He further shared, "The only thing that I have is an email from the office saying that this is the money that is still pending. Apart from that, I don't have anything. A lot of people worked very hard in good faith. But they were betrayed. People cried on set."

While some didn't have the confidence to reach out to cine workers associations and unions owing to absence of contracts, others were exhausted after months of ordeal, and had little hope of any external help.

1920: Horrors Of The Heart wasn't a standalone case. According to Bhatt's frequent collaborators, this was a pattern, which they overlooked out of respect and trust in long-standing partnerships. 

"Payments were always delayed but you would eventually get it because they wanted the next job to be done. But it never happened ki paisa saamne se aaya. I had to ask 50 times to get my dues. On 1920: Horrors Of The Heart, the team would constantly give you hope. They never said that they wouldn't pay. They would say, 'We don't have it right now. But it will come.' If they say we will not pay, people will create a scene. But the moment you get a little more firm, saying, 'I want the money to come in,' is when they disconnect you," he claimed. 

Chadha had taken up casting duties of Bhatt's Khilone, which followed 1920: Horrors Of The Heart, but left mid-way. "I got the lead actor, Anupria Goenka, on board. But by that time, the production house was non-responsive to me. So, I left the film in the middle. Jab 1920 ka paisa nahi mila, toh Khilone ka paisa kaise maangta? But I hear that none of the crew and cast from even Khilone has been paid," he claimed.

A crew member, who is due over Rs 40 lakhs from his long-time collaboration with Bhatt, says, "I would get a part of the payment for a film, then we would move on to the next and so on. I never received the full payment for any film. The backlog for my assistants also runs into lakhs, which I have been paying from my pocket."

Chadha has long bid adieu to the hope of getting his dues. But he wants to speak up to spread awareness among upcoming artistes. "It's just something that needs to come out. The more it comes out, the better it is for the future generation. People, who earn Rs 5,000-6,000 per day, are being pushed. You want to create awareness that whoever works with such a production house should do it at their risk," he said. 

His Instagram post has hit a chord with many artistes and technicians in the industry. But he admitted that he was initially reluctant to speak up about it.

"I was scared all this while because we know how it is (in the industry). Even if you are right, people can think, 'This guy is trouble. He puts it out on Instagram. We don't want to work with a person like that.' And it's not about delays. We understand delays. I've been working for say 15 years in the industry, nothing comes on time. But the intent to kind of give the money to somebody who's worked for you was just not there in this production house," he said.

In the days since Rajpal Yadav was sent to Tihar Jail in connection with a Rs 9 crore debt and cheque bounce case, many in the Hindi film industry have offered financial help to the actor. The latest to extend support is Priyadarshan. The filmmaker, whose next is a comedy starring Pankaj Tripathi and Yadav, revealed that the makers have hiked the actor’s fee, in light of the current situation.

When mid-day reached out to Priyadarshan, he said, “I have known Rajpal for over 20 years.”

The director, who was neck-deep in the post-production of Bhooth Bangla in Hyderabad, added, “I saw him for the first time in Jungle [2000] and was surprised by his performance. My first film with him was Malamaal Weekly [2006], and after that, he has starred in most of my films. I told the producers [Jubilee Films] of my next to pay Rajpal more than what he charges because of his situation. We want to save him. The producers have agreed. Rajpal plays the villain in my movie.”

Yadav reportedly borrowed Rs 5 crore in 2010 to finance his directorial venture, Ata Pata Laapata (2012). With the film failing at the box office, the unpaid dues over the years apparently escalated to nearly Rs 9 crore.

As one of Yadav’s close associates, Priyadarshan was aware of his financial distress. “I knew about his problem. That’s why I kept signing Rajpal for every film. I pushed him in ad films too. The poor guy made a blunder because of his poor education. Rajpal is a good soul.”

Ranveer Singh and filmmaker Farhan Akhtar’s ‘Don 3’ took an unexpected turn in the past few weeks when the actor exited the project, following which the filmmaker’s banner Excel Entertainment demanded Rs 40 crore from Singh in damages. The conflict appears to be nowhere near its end. Sources from the Producers Guild of India have told mid-day that the matter has not been formally tabled at its general meeting yet, but is lined up for February-end.

“No formal complaint has been placed before the general body. But both sides will be heard informally,” said a senior Guild member. Another insider shared that following the informal meetings at the month-end, both parties will be given a 10-day window to attempt a mutual resolution.

“If talks fail, the body is likely to escalate the issue to the Cine & TV Artistes Association [CINTAA]. CINTAA’s involvement would ensure that both producer and artiste’s interests are balanced,” said the insider.

Beyond dispute resolution, the case — in which Akhtar’s production house demanded compensation for losses incurred due to pre-production, scheduling disruption, and entourage costs — is also expected to become a reference point for policy reform with regard to escalating production costs.

The insider added, “Producers today are bearing disproportionate financial pressure due to expanding entourage. Seeing that stars’ entourages remain bloated, as evident from this case, it’s best to put guidelines in place.”

What if we told you that Rani Mukerji isn’t the only member of her family to feature in Mardaani 3? Few know that the actor’s niece, Myiesha Mukerji, served as the second assistant director on the cop actioner, which released on January 30.

It turns out when Abhiraj Minawala’s directorial venture was being set up, Myiesha, 19, expressed her desire to work on the project. Happy to see her niece taking baby steps in the film industry, Rani told mid-day, “Myiesha [worked] with the director on Mardaani 3. She is like my baby, and was the first baby of the house. Most pictures on the internet that people assume are Adira’s [her daughter], are in fact Myiesha’s. For her, working on the third part was a full journey as she also starred in Mardaani [2014] with me.”

The shoot was a novel experience for Myiesha. Not only did she learn the nitty-gritty of filming, but also saw Rani as a professional on set, far removed from the doting aunt that she is at home.

Recalling the shoot, Rani said, “Myiesha has seen her Pipi [Pishi, as an aunt is addressed in Bengali] at home, and it was a different experience for her to watch me perform on set. She saw me in a different light. It is also important for the young generation to understand the hard work that goes into making a movie.”

Rani Mukerji’s sister-in-law, Jyoti Mukerji, has a blink-and-miss role as a forensic pathologist in ‘Mardaani 3’

New Delhi: Terming her arrest in an alleged cheating case ‘unfortunate’, the Supreme Court on Friday granted bail to filmmaker Vikram Bhatt’s wife Shwetambari and ordered her immediate release from Central Jail, Udaipur. Senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi told a bench of CJI Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi that on a frivolous cheating case lodged by Ajay Murdia, owner of Indira IVF and a partner of Indira Entertainment LLP, Rajasthan police had picked up the husband and wife from Mumbai in December.

When Murdia’s counsel Harsh Surana said it is a case of cheating Rs 44 crore, the bench asked, “Can a criminal case be used for recovery of dues? It is very unfortunate.” It issued notice to Rajasthan and Murdia and asked them to file response by Wednesday while posting further hearing on Thursday.

In its order, the bench said, “Meanwhile, as an interim measure, it is directed that Shwetambari V Bhatt, wife of Vikram Bhatt, presently incarcerated at Central Jail, Udaipur, be released forthwith on interim bail subject to her furnishing bail bond to the satisfaction of the chief judicial magistrate, Udaipur”. The Rajasthan HC had rejected bail pleas of Bhatts on January 31.