Days after securing interim bail in a Rs. 9 crore loan case, actor-comedian Rajpal Yadav addressed the media in Mumbai on Saturday. He arrived with his lawyer, Bhaskar Upadhyay, and spoke about the scale of his upcoming work: “Over the next seven years, I have branding projects valued at Rs. 1,200 crore. I’ve secured four agreements, which don’t include films. Some of these projects are worth Rs. 200 crore, while others go up to Rs. 2,000 crore. The income is a mix of fees and equity. I also have 10 films lined up.”

Addressing the ongoing legal dispute, Rajpal described the agreement as a “ghar ka maamla” (a personal matter) based on trust.

“When the deal happened, Bhaskar ji wasn’t in the picture. I have worked in over 250 films. If I look back, every contract will have some loophole. I never imagined this would reach court. This fight is an ego clash. The person wants me to fall at his feet in return for Rs. 5 crore. If it was about money, I have been ready to pay since 2013,” he said. The actor admitted he “signed documents without reading” them.

The dispute dates back to 2010, when Rajpal took a Rs. 5 crore loan from Delhi-based Murali Projects Pvt Ltd to finance his directorial debut Ata Pata Laapata (2012). After the film failed, repayment issues followed. In April 2018, a Magisterial Court convicted Rajpal and his wife Radha under Section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act after seven cheques bounced. He was sentenced to six months’ imprisonment, a conviction later upheld by a Sessions Court in 2019.

In October 2025, the court noted that while Rajpal had deposited Rs. 75 lakh, most of the liability remained unpaid. He surrendered at Tihar Jail on February 5 after the Delhi High Court declined further relief in the long-pending cheque bounce case. He has since been granted interim bail till March 18.

Days after actor Rajpal Yadav walked out of Tihar Jail on interim bail on Tuesday in a cheque-bounce case linked to his directorial debut Ata Pata Laapata (2012), his legal team has offered a fresh perspective on the long-running dispute. Advocate Bhaskar Upadhyay claims the matter escalated after businessman Madhav Gopal Agarwal allegedly took offence during the film’s music launch event. 

According to Upadhyay, multiple agreements were signed between the parties until August 2012, with repayments scheduled to begin later that year. However, tensions reportedly surfaced at the September music launch, which was attended by Amitabh Bachchan.

“The complainant wanted to share the stage with Mr Bachchan, but Rajpal’s team declined as Mr Bachchan was not taking any favours for his presence. The complainant got annoyed and moved the Delhi High Court seeking a stay on the film,” Upadhyay tells us.

The lawyer adds that the dispute was later settled through a consent agreement in 2013, followed by a consent decree in 2016, under which Rs. 10.4 crore became payable. An execution petition was filed the same year, and Rs. 1.9 crore was subsequently paid.

Upadhyay further alleges that despite a guarantor offering property worth Rs. 15 crore as surety — documents of which are with HT City — the complainant refused and instead sought imprisonment.

The matter remains sub judice, with Rajpal’s team expected to present new points at the March 18 hearing.

Meanwhile, Rajpal Yadav, currently in his ancestral village in Shahjahanpur, Uttar Pradesh, told PTI that prisons should have “designated smoking areas, similar to railway stations and airports”. He added that jails should function as reform centres where inmates get structured opportunities to change.

As Rajpal Yadav walked out of the Tihar Jail on Tuesday, thanks to the Delhi High Court granting him interim bail till March 18, he thanked the country and his industry for their support. “I will complete 30 years in Bollywood, in Mumbai in 2027. People from all over the country, children, old and young, are with me... The way the entire country and the world, my Bollywood has loved me... If there are any allegations against me, I am available to answer. Thank you High Court,” he told ANI on Tuesday.

But narrating the account from the other end, businessman Madhav Gopal Agarwal, who loaned Rajpal Rs. 5 crore, has revealed the years-long ordeal of trying to get his money back in an interview with News Pinch.

Agarwal said that he met the actor back in 2010 through MP Mithilesh Kumar Katheria. During the meeting, Rajpal said if he didn’t receive immediate funding for his directorial debut, Ata Pata Laapata (2012), “everything will go to waste”. While Agarwal was initially hesitant, he claimed that Rajpal’s wife Radha contacted him several times over five days requesting help, which emotionally pressured him into loaning them the money under a formal agreement.

However, the repayment dates were missed by Rajpal, with supplementary agreements and new cheques with revised dates being issued three times over the next two years.

When veteran actor Amitabh Bachchan launched the film’s music, Agarwal realized that the film negatives and earnings were meant to be handed over once the project was completed. Worried about recovering his money, he approached the court and temporarily stayed the film’s release. Rajpal maintained that he would repay the loan after the film was released, after which the court stay was lifted. However, the film’s box office failure made the situation worse.

By 2013, with no solution in sight, Agarwal returned to court. Judicial intervention resulted in a settlement amount of Rs. 10.4 crore. Although several cheques were submitted by the actor, all were later dishonoured.

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Advocate Bhaskar Upadhyay, who is representing actor Rajpal Yadav in the Rs. 9 crore cheque-bounce case, speaks to use after Rajpal’s release from jail.

“We told the court that our previous conducts were due to miscommunication, and we gave enough money to fulfil our commitment (Rs. 2.25 crores). The judge also realized that it’s necessary to listen to our side and have asked for Rajpal ji’s presence in the next hearing on March 18. Our contention is just that our side be listened to. The court asked us about the pending amount and we said that we just want the court to take our case based on merit and give us liberty to speak our side. And the court agreed. The next course of action will now be decided on the next hearing,” he says.

He had earlier told HT City that Rajpal will be holding a press conference to address speculation and queries around the case.

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.”

Senior actor Rajpal Yadav has been going through a tough time amid legal and financial trouble, and he recently surrendered before the Tihar Jail authorities in a cheque-bounce case. Reportedly, before surrendering to the authorities, the actor broke down and said, “Sir, kya karoon? Mere paas paise nahin hain. Aur koi upaay nahin dikhta.”

When asked if he had considered seeking help from colleagues or industry friends, Yadav replied, “Sir, yahan hum sab akele hain. There are no friends. I have to deal with this crisis on my own.”

Rajpal Yadav surrendered to the police after the Delhi High Court directed him to do so in connection with multiple cheque bounce cases. The actor, who had taken a loan for his directorial, Ata Pata Laapata, in 2010, was unable to repay the loan. In 2018, a magisterial court sentenced him to a six-month jail term. In 2019, a sessions court upheld the verdict.

When the actor and his wife approached the Delhi High Court in 2024 for relief, the court temporarily suspended the sentence, taking into consideration the fact that the actor and his wife were not habitual offenders. It allowed time for resettlement. However, the actor was unable to repay the debt. The Delhi High Court, on Wednesday, rejected Bollywood actor Rajpal Yadav’s plea seeking an extension of time to surrender before jail authorities.

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Actor Sonu Sood took to social media on Tuesday to share that Rajpal Yadav will be part of his upcoming film, adding that the actor would be given a “small signing amount, adjustable against future work”. The announcement comes just days after Rajpal surrendered at Delhi’s Tihar Jail on Feb 5 in connection with a cheque bounce case.

Speaking to us, Sonu says, “Helping him is our responsibility as colleagues, and I hope we can make this happen. It’s a little too early to talk about the film as it is in the final writing stages.”

The 52-year-old, who previously worked with Rajpal in Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose: The Forgotten Hero (2004), adds, “A lot of people in our industry have worked with Rajpal bhai. He will be a part of my film, and I request all producers to do the same so that he can come out of the tough phase he is facing.”

The cheque bounce case stems from a Rs. 5 crore loan Rajpal took in 2010 to fund his directorial debut, Ata Pata Laapata (2012). The amount later reportedly swelled to nearly Rs. 9 crore, which he was unable to repay, following which he surrendered last Thursday.

Last December, Rajpal Yadav was arrested and sent to judicial custody by the Delhi High Court for hiding facts about a Rs 5 crore recovery suit filed against him and his wife by a Delhi-based entrepreneur. In 2010, the actor had taken loan from M G Aggarwal for his directional debut, Ata Pata Laapata. The judge also issued a notice to his two lawyers for submitting affidavits with forged signatures of the actor and wife Radha. Rajpal has put this unsavoury chapter behind him by adding an extra 'a' to his name for good luck. It seems to be working as his much delayed Hollywood project is set to release. “Bhopal: A Prayer For Rain is a film seen through my eyes. I play a labourer,“ he informs.

Touch on his imprisonment in Tihar jail, and he says lightly, “Jo ho gaya so ho gaya. Some of the inmates were happy to meet me. I told them not to wish for another meeting so much that I'd have to come back.“

He admits that he has still to pay off the Rs 5 crore loan to Aggarwal. “I'm doing it, bit by bit, and soon he will get his money back,“ he promises, adding that he was not put behind bars for non-repayment of loan but because his lawyers submitted an affidavit with forged signatures. “After I was set free, I sacked those lawyers and appointed new ones,“ he explained.

We saw him in every alternative film eight years ago. Now he's hardly seen on screen. Why? “Hindi cinema has changed in the last decade,“ sighs the actor. “But I'm reading lots of scripts and have signed a few films. Meanwhile, I have been busy with regional cinema. I've done movies in at least 10 languages in the last year-and-a-half. Thanks to these films and Bhopal: A Prayer for Rain, I haven't sat at home for a single day in 2014.“

Needless to say that having burnt his hands with Ata Pata Laapata, Rajpal is in no mood to produce films again in the near future, but quickly adds, “The film was a learning experience but like Sean Connery as James Bond said, 'I never say never again'.“