Meena Iyer (DNA; December 15, 2018)

Everyone was curious about what would be Abhishek Bachchan’s next film post Anurag Kashyap’s Manmarziyaan. The actor was so good in it that there was a kind of frenzy on what he would choose next.

Momentum built up when AB Junior started talks with director Pavan Kirpalani (of Ragini MMS and Phobia fame). An international film giant agreed to fund the project.

However, talks fell through because when it came to remuneration, Abhishek reportedly asked for big money.

Next, the studio, which was committed to Pavan and the subject, apparently began talks with Saif Ali Khan. The Nawab of Pataudi’s fee was settled on, but it allegedly came with a rider, according to which Saif would have to do a cameo or an extended special appearance in Mukesh Chhabra’s Kizie Aur Manny that features Sushant Singh Rajput and newbie Sanjana Sanghi.

Saif agreed and was about to begin work when Mukesh’s career hit a small roadblock. His name cropped up in the #MeToo Movement that gripped Bollywood. Work ground to a halt on Kizie Aur Manny as the director’s name had to be cleared by the Internal Complaints Committee (ICC).

By the time his name was finally cleared and the shoot for his romantic film was supposed to resume, Saif’s dates were committed to Sacred Games season 2. Hence, the Nawab had to request for a fresh set of dates for his cameo in the Sushant-starrer, failing which he had to be let off.

Now, the studio was adamant that they couldn’t relieve him. Instead, it is strongly rumoured that they went back to AB Junior, who agreed to be a part of Pavan’s film. Apparently, he got away with asking for a fat pay cheque, too. A source says, “When Saif learnt all this had happened behind his back, he was furious. He called the studio bosses and told them that it was unprofessional on their part to deal with another actor without keeping him in the loop.”

The studio heads, of course, reportedly mumbled excuses and put the blame on another reputed filmmaker. They claimed he suggested them to ditch Saif and go back to Abhishek. Once again, there was commotion. The Sacred Games hero confronted this filmmaker, who also happens to be his friend. The director-producer, in turn, asked the studio why his name was dragged into the controversy in vain.

Guess while all this was playing out, Pavan felt he had suffered too much grief over his movie and decided enough was enough. Our source adds, “Pavan felt the studio and everyone concerned was treating his passionate project with too much disdain. So, he decided to step back.”

We messaged Pavan to ask whether this information about his backing out of the Saif/Abhishek project was true? And whether he was doing something altogether different now. He read our SMS, but chose not to respond till the time of going to press.