Sonali Joshi Pitale (MID-DAY; October 4, 2014)

Pradeep Gupta (right), producer of Fuddu, is a hassled man. He alleges that screenwriter Manoj Tyagi has been harassing him for a while now. Says Pradeep, “One year ago, I met Manoj and we wanted to work together. I was keen to make a film on Sarabjeet Singh’s life and I asked him to develop the script. He came up with some ideas for this film, but I did not like them initially. Soon after, Subhash Ghai announced his film on Sarabjeet, so we decided to not make that film, as there was no point in making another movie on same subject.”

After a few months, Pradeep is said to have assured Manoj that he would work with him on another project, especially since he had paid Manoj Rs 5 lakh in advance. “Meanwhile, I liked the concept of Fuddu and decided to go ahead with this film. Accordingly, I asked writer Pawan Kumar to write the script. Then all of a sudden, Manoj called me and asked me about my film. He started out by speaking cordially, but later on, accused me of cheating him by not offering him another film. What’s more, he is now demanding a payment of Rs 3 lakh from me. But I cannot give him the money as I have not worked with him at all. In fact, he should return my money. When I told him this, he abused me and I am now going to register a case against him in Delhi and Mumbai.”

When contacted, Manoj, who has won two National Awards — one each for Page 3 and Aparahan — denied that he had had any argument with Pradeep.