Avinash Lohana (MUMBAI MIRROR; October 14, 2017)

Almost a month after the release of Apoorva Lakhia’s Haseena Parkar, which featured Shraddha Kapoor and Siddhanth Kapoor in the lead, the film’s producer, Furqan Khan of Swiss Entertainment, has yet to pay outstanding dues to certain members of the crew who are now complaining.

Suresh Nair, who wrote the story and screenplay, told Mirror, “The producer owes me around Rs 15 lakh. I approached the writers’ association and they called for a hearing twice, but on both occasions one or the other party was not in town. I did the film only because Apoorva is a friend, I don’t know these producers.”

Dialogue writer Chintan Gandhi is claiming to be one of those who has been short-shifted by the producers. “We have been asking for our dues for a long time now. During the dubbing, I was given a part payment of Rs 1 lakh from the Rs 7 lakh of the pending amount. He (Khan) has been dodging us since the film released and hasn’t even given me the contract copies so I’m unable to file a complaint with the association. Now, his staff says that the contracts are lost,” grouses Gandhi.

He adds that Apoorva would talk to Khan every day, even when the film was up for release, insisting that the dues needed to be cleared, but Khan would ward him off saying he would do the needful when he came to Mumbai. “Even the TDS that was cut has not been paid back,” says Gandhi.

Production designer Sunil Nigvekar also claims that he is yet to receive Rs 23 lakh from Khan. “I haven’t filed a complaint yet because Khan has promised to clear all my payments on October 15,” says Nigvekar. Publicity designer Nabeel Abbas of Epigram Advertising reiterared this, saying, “There was a commitment to release monies more than a month prior to the release, but FK kept procrastinating. He has now given a commitment of clearing all dues right after Diwali. I hope he honours his commitment.”

When Mirror reached out to Furqan Khan, the producer denied the allegations as “rubbish”. “Get me one name (of those accusing him of delaying payment). All of them charged extra money and cheated me. I will take the legal route if they play with our reputation,” he says.

Apoorva Lakhia remained unavailable for comment.

Chaya Unnikrishnan (DNA; August 29, 2017)

Shraddha Kapoor’s upcoming film, the biopic on Haseena Parkar, seems to be stuck. Initially, it was supposed to release on July 14, but later got pushed to August 18. The makers then reasoned that since the film would clash with Ranbir Kapoor’s Jagga Jasoos they decided to shift the release.

Avoid a clash
However, the makers did not stick to that date either and the movie is now slated to hit theatres on September 22. “They wanted to get a better release date as there has been a lot of hard work, research and thought put behind each and every scene of the movie,” read a statement issued by the producers.

Money issues
Now the movie will clash with Sanjay Dutt’s Bhoomi and there is news that it’s release will be postponed yet again. It is now clear that it is not the clash with other films that has caused the delay. “The producer, Furqan Khan, owes a lot of people money and they are not allowing the movie’s release,” reveals a source.

Shraddha upset?
Interestingly, Furqan is Shraddha’s uncle Pradeep (Tutu) Sharma’s partner. “It is because of Tutu that Shraddha did the film. Now, she is upset with him, too, for what is happening to the film,” adds the source. Meanwhile, Shraddha has begun prep for her next film, a biopic on badminton champion Saina Nehwal.

Asira Tarannum (MID-DAY; July 13, 2015)

Fresh trouble seems to be brewing for Firoz Nadiadwala and his next, Welcome Back. Furqan Khan, the film’s co-producer and owner of Swiss Entertainment Pvt Ltd, has issued a public notice against Nadiadwala for allegedly failing to reimburse the production budget of nearly Rs 48 crore.

Says Khan, “I had not taken action until now because of my rapport with Anees (Bazmee) bhai who has directed the film. He had promised to help resolve these financial issues with the producer. But I have been forced to issue a public notice and will move the High Court for a stay order on its release.”

Nadiadwala is said to have sold both Welcome Back and Phir Hera Pheri to production studio Eros International for Rs 130 crore, and Khan, in the capacity of a financier, has the rights to the intellectual property, negatives, print material and derivative works. The notice, which is in mid-day ’s possession, reads, “Since BIG (Nadiadwala’s company) has repeatedly defaulted on repayment of our dues, the film cannot be released on any platform, including by theatrical exploitation, until our entire dues are paid.”

Khan adds, “He had given me two separate cheques of Rs 32 crore and Rs 15.80 crore. But they bounced when I tried encashing them on July 4 and then on July 8. He has to clear my dues anyhow.” While Nadiadwala did not respond to our text messages, Bazmee says: “The dues shall be cleared in the coming week and I am saying this on behalf of producer Firoz Nadiadwala.”

Ankur Pathak (MUMBAI MIRROR; September 16, 2014)

Sunny Leone's Bollywood streak continues... After Bobby Khan's Leela and Milap Zaveri's Mastizaade, the actress has signed a hard-hitting drama titled One Night Stand. It is the directorial debut of Jasmine D'Souza, filmmaker Anthony D'Souza's (Blue, Boss) wife. In the past, Jasmine has directed several ad films and worked with Anthony on Blue and Boss.

Revealed a source close to the production, "Going by the title, the film seems like an erotica fantasy, but it is actually an intense drama. Sunny will be playing a girl-next-door. One night, an unexpected encounter with Rana Daggubati's character turns her life topsy-turvy."

The story has been penned by Bhavani Iyer, of Black, Guzaarish and Lootera fame. The film is expected to go on floors in November and will be extensively shot abroad. "They are planning to take it to South Africa," added the source.

The project is being bankrolled by Furqan Khan, who has produced Welcome Back, and Pradeep Sharma, the producer of the upcoming Sonam Kapoor-starrer Khoobsurat.

Confirming the same, Sharma told Mirror, "Bhavani has written a fabulous script and we are confident Jasmine will do justice to it. The film should release late in 2015."