Arora claims she is seeking legal recourse
Sonil Dedhia (MID-DAY; April 2, 2018)

Rumours of all not being well between John Abraham and KriArj Entertainment, the co-producers of his film — Parmanu: The Story Of Pokhran, have been doing the rounds for the past few months. Now, it has been learnt that tired of the film’s release being incessantly delayed, Abraham has terminated his contract with the studio and intends to release it under his banner, JA Entertainment. A trade notice has been issued on the subject.

It may be recalled that the movie, which revolves around India’s nuclear bomb test explosions conducted in Pokhran in 1998, was originally slated to release on December 8 last year. However, the release was then deferred to February, only to be pushed further to March 2. Since Prernaa Arora’s [of KriArj Entertainment] co-production Pari was releasing on the same day, Parmanu was postponed once again to April 6. Finally, it was to hit screens on May 11.

A source revealed that besides being upset about the constant change in plans, Abraham was also unhappy with the non-payment of dues by the co-producers. “The constant delay has been a worrying factor for John. He has also been having creative conflicts with the producers as there is no clarity on the promotional strategy. That aside, Prernaa’s company had not cleared their dues,” said the source.

Arora, on her part, claimed that Abraham hasn’t fulfilled his end of the bargain, and termed the termination “illegal”. Stating that Zee Studios are KriArj’s partners in the project, she said, “JA Ent has kept making unreasonable demands for money from us, which are outside the scope of their initial understanding with us. This has made it clear that they are trying to defraud us by attempting to wriggle out of a legally binding contract. (sic)”

Arora added that they are taking legal recourse.