HINDUSTAN TIMES (July 27, 2020)

With months of meticulous planning behind them, Pooja Entertainment is Bollywood’s first production house off the block to shoot a complete schedule of its big-budget spy thriller, Bellbottom, with actor Akshay Kumar in the lead. Vashu Bhagnani’s production house is chartering a full flight to fly the entire unit with top-grade medical facilities to go to United Kingdom for the shoot. The team is set for an extended shoot, which is set to begin soon. Besides medical-grade masks and face shields, after consulting medical experts, the production house is making it mandatory for the entire cast and crew to wear a wrist watch that will constantly monitor their oxygen levels, body temperature, blood pressure, stress levels and pulse. A centralised dashboard will constantly record the parameters of the entire unit and keep a check for any changes in the readings.

Commenting on this, producer Jackky Bhagnani says that the health of his unit is of utmost importance. “I am truly grateful to Akshay sir without whom this film and this shoot would not have been possible. He is a rock and our guiding light. It is only after every department and individual was assured of the measures taken that we decided to embark on this journey. From a doctor on the set at all times, to keeping the entire set disinfected throughout, safety first is our mantra. It’s a challenge but it makes Bellbottom even more special for all of us,” he says.

Kumar says, “The new normal has made us realise a different way of working that none of us could have imagined. As much as I’m happy to be back on the sets, it’s also important for us to take care of everything around us. Pooja Entertainment has laid down a safety plan for our shooting schedule abroad. We hope these measures help us accomplish a smooth and safe shoot.”

Bellbottom’s on-set guidelines will also include maintaining social distancing of no less than 6 feet wherever possible; hand sanitising stations will be made available on the set, and all surface areas and equipments will be disinfected frequently using alcohol-based sanitisers before and after shoot.

Bellbottom, a retro drama with Kumar, Vaani Kapoor, Huma S Qureshi and Lara Dutta, was announced late last year. Pooja Entertainment took the decision to shoot a start to finish stint keeping the global health crisis in mind. Director Ranjit M Tewari adds, “It is going to be a challenging shoot given the circumstances, but I am confident of the health and safety protocols put in place by Pooja Entertainment. Every member of the Bellbottom family is exhilarated and geared up to kick-start work.”

Production Designer Amit Subrata says, “It is a challenging time to shoot a film, but I look at it as a creative challenge — to manage all that is going on around us, keep protocols in place, and despite that, to help and create a special feel for this film.” Sushant, head of spot boy team for Bellbottom, says, “All spot boys and technical staff have been taken through the best practices to be followed on set. We are well-versed with the processes now. And everyone is excited to get back to work.”

While the actors are excited to resume shooting, they are also relieved that their health is in safe hands. The Bellbottom team is expected to take off any time now.

Pooja Entertainment presents, in association with Emmay Entertainment, Bellbottom, produced by Vashu Bhagnani, Jackky Bhagnani, Deepshikha Deshmukh, Monisha Advani, Madhu Bhojwani and Nikkhil Advani. Bellbottom written by Aseem Arrora and Parveez Shaikh is set to release on April 2, 2021.

HINDUSTAN TIMES (July 2, 2020)

BOMBAY TIMES (June 24, 2019)

After successfully entertaining the audience with their films in the ’90s, Pooja Entertainment has signed talented filmmakers Rahi Anil Barve, Vijay Lalwani and Nitin Kakkar to build on their brand of high-on-entertainment and content-driven films. “Just like the game of chess, in showbiz, too, content is queen. In just one move, the game can change completely,” says Jackky Bhagnani, as he prepares to lead Pooja Entertainment into its next phase.

Nitin Kakkar says, “Working with Jackky has been a wonderful experience, and I am looking forward to my association with him. He is determined to back content-driven cinema, and after Filmistaan, I haven’t written anything on my own. I am excited for the film we are making because it will be written and directed by me.”

Rahi Anil Barve, who had directed Tumbbad, says, “After the tremendous response to Tumbbad by the audience and critics, I expected the banner to brief me on a similar genre. But Jackky’s willingness to explore unchartered territory pleasantly surprised me. A freehand to execute your vision is something that every filmmaker aspires for, and Jackky gives you that freedom by putting you at complete ease and believing in you.”

Speaking about his association with Jackky, Vijay Lalwani adds, “What I like about him is that he’s not just a warm and approachable person, but he also doesn’t flinch while backing ideas that are new and edgy. He doesn’t just put a project together, but he goes all out to manifest your vision. And that’s what makes his production house stand out for me.”

Jackky says, “Times have never been better for good content, and it excites me to see great work happening across mediums — be it films, digital or TV. In fact, it is heartening to see some of our films get massive organic hits on OTT platforms. That just goes to show that our connect with the audience has been intact over the years, and we hope that this bond gets stronger with our new line up.” 

DNA (December 20, 2018)

Even as producer Prernaa Arora hopes to get bail today in the case filed against her by Vashu Bhagnani, she still won’t be able to go home yet. Once her police custody in this matter ends, she is likely to be arrested again as there are three cheating cases against her registered with the EOW (Economic Offences Wing). Moreover, arrest warrant has also been issued against her mother Protima Arora.

Earlier this Monday, the Toilet - Ek Prem Katha, Pad Man and Pari producer, who was allegedly arrested for duping Bhagnani and his company, Pooja Films, to the tune of Rs 31.6 crore, told the Mumbai Police that she couldn’t repay her investors as her company KriArj Entertainment suffered big losses. Currently in police remand till today (December 20), Prernaa has three cheating cases, the total of which amounts to Rs 65.9 cr.

Meanwhile, both, Protima and Prernaa’s business partner Arjun N Kapoor, were reportedly not at their respective residences when the cops reached there. Last heard, they hadn’t been arrested.

Interestingly, industry sources say that the producer, who began her innings with Rustom and got into financial trouble earlier this year when her collaborations like Parmanu: The Story Of Pokhran, Fanney Khan, Batti Gul Meter Chalu and Kedarnath came to a halt, was apparently advised to take stock of her situation, but she didn’t heed the warnings. According to an industry source, “Prernaa had taken about Rs 50 crore from Vashu, promising him first claim on her film, even though she had given away the rights to another organisation. After much delay, she settled about Rs 18 cr and apparently kept on procrastinating settling the remaining amount. After she repeatedly failed to deposit Rs 5 cr as ordered by the court in the Parmanu matter, Vashu reportedly felt she was harassing him and he finally decided to go the legal route to get recover his money.”

Elaborating on the losses she suffered, our informer adds, “Prernaa suffered a big loss of over Rs 20 cr from two films. Add to that, she was spreading herself too thin, inking multiple co-productions when she should have waited for those films under-production to complete and release. She had paid about Rs 8 cr to Vishal Bhardwaj for their collaboration, and between Rs 2.5 cr and Rs 3 cr each to Siddharth Anand and Ahmed Khan. Since those films didn’t materialise for various reasons, a filmmakers’ association advised her to ask her money back from them and settle part of her dues with Vashu. But she didn’t take it too seriously, and that’s also escalated to the amount she owes her investors. Now, today’s will determine her next course of action.”

We tried contacting Prernaa’s lawyer, Rizwan Merchant for their side of the story, but he was in court and couldn’t respond till the time of going to press.

Ahmed Ali (THE TIMES OF INDIA; December 9, 2018)

Mumbai: Prernaa Arora, who runs an A-lister movie production house, was arrested by Mumbai police’s economic offences wing (EOW) on Saturday for allegedly cheating another production company of Rs 31.6 crore. This is the fourth cheating case filed against her this year. She has been booked in three similar frauds collectively involving Rs 66 crore, said police sources.

EOW’s housing unit arrested Aroraa, director of KriArj Entertainment, which has produced, distributed and promoted recent movies such as ‘Pad Man’ and ‘Toilet - Ek Prem Katha’.

Aroraa has been booked under Indian Penal Code sections for cheating and criminal conspiracy. She was produced before the holiday court, which remanded her to police custody. The police said Nagesh Vaidikar, production manager at Pooja Films, had lodged the complaint with EOW in September.

Vaidikar said Arora, along with two other absconding accused, Arjun N Kapoor and Pratima Arora, allegedly induced Pooja Films and its head Vashu Bhagnani to provide finance for ‘Pad Man’, promising first claim on its post-release revenue. But they had already reportedly given the right to another organisation and accepted money, a fact intentionally concealed from Bhagnani. Later, they allegedly failed to return the money to Bhagnani, causing losses to the tune of Rs 31.6 crore.

During the investigation, the police learnt KriArj Entertainment had taken loans from various financial organisations for the film and kept Pooja Films in the dark. KriArj had signed a contract with Gothic Entertainment in November 2017 for ‘Pad Man’ and other films and given it first claim on their revenues. KriArj hid this fact from the complainant’s company, the police concluded.

The complainant said that Aroraa’s company had signed contracts with Gothic Entertainment for several movies, including ‘Pad Man’, ‘Batti Gul Meter Chalu’ and ‘Fanney Khan’, last year.

The police claim it found Arora took money from victims “for buying properties and maintaining a lavish lifestyle”.

They need to interrogate Arora and her associates to follow the money trail, for which they need to freeze several bank accounts in which sums were deposited, transferred and allegedly siphoned off, they added.

Sunanya Suresh (BOMBAY TIMES; March 25, 2014)

Over two decades, Vashu Bhagnani has produced 25 films under his banner Pooja Entertainment & Films Ltd. “When I began with my first film, Coolie No. 1, I thought to myself that if I could make 5-10 films here, that would be a lot. But, when we were making Youngistaan, we found out only much later that it was our silver jubilee product,” says the producer.

Vashu, who even held a party on the occasion, says that he considers the industry his family today. “I came to Mumbai from Kolkata in 1989 with a family of four. Today, it has grown to over 400, all of who were present at the party. I never realised when my family grew so big,” he says.

“Coolie No. 1, Bade Miyan Chote Miyan, Biwi No. 1, Om Jai Jagadish, Rehnaa Hai Terre Dil Mein and F.A.L.T.U. are some films that I cherish. I am also excited about my two upcoming releases. While Humshakals sees three actors in triple roles, Youngistaan deals with a Prime Minister’s love life. Both these are topics new to Bollywood. I usually strive to give innovative films,” he adds.

The producer is now all charged and raring to go. “While it took two decades to make 25 films, I’m now determined to make 25 more in 10 years. I’m already in talks with Abhishek Bachchan for one. I have another film with Jackky. I also want to encourage more new talent,” he says hinting that a film with David Dhawan, with whom he’s collaborated six times so far, is in the offing too. “None of this would have been possible without my wife Pooja, who is my pillar of strength,” signs off Vashu.