A poster of Fanney Khan. (Image courtesy: Instagram)
Highlights
- Vashu Bhagnani has filed a FIR against Prernaa Arora
- He also claims Prernaa violated their multiple projects deal
- Fanney Khan releases on August 3
Prernaa Arora's KriArj Entertainment is back with another controversy. After Parmanu and Kedarnath, the production company's latest dispute is over Fanney Khan, which stars Anil Kapoor, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan and Rajkummar Rao. KriArj reportedly granted distribution rights of Fanney Khan to Vashu Bhagnani's company (Pooja Entertainment And Films Limited) when Prernaa was still producing the film. However, Vashu Bhagnani claimed his company was not credited appropriately when its trailer released in June. Now, Vashu Bhagnani filed a FIR against the company and their lawyer told mid-day: "KriArj has sold the India theatrical distribution (rights) to my client for Rs 10 crore. Rs 5.5 crore was to be paid when signing the agreement on December 16, 2017, and the rest, a week before the release (of the film). Since Prernaa needed money, my client paid her Rs 8.5 crore in advance. Now, T-Series (co-producers of Fanney Khan) tells us we don't have rights to distribute the film." Fanney Khan releases on August 3.
Vashu Bhagnani has also accused Prernaa Arora of violating their multiple projects deal, in which his company would have received the distribution rights of Parmanu, Kedarnath, Batti Gul Meter Chalu and Fanney Khan, among others. KriArj Entertainment eventually opted out of three of the four projects but in the case of Parmanu, John Abraham dissolved their contract (more about that later).
"The Economic Offence Wing has summoned Altaf Hussain, who handles the finances of KirArj with the account books, and copies of the agreements. Prernaa has assured them that he will explain (matters)," Vashu Bhagnani's lawyer told mid-day.
As Vashu Bhagnani and Prernaa Arora settle their dispute, here's a summary of Prernaa Arora's other clashes.
Batti Gul Meter Chaalu vs Prernaa Arora
In April, the shooting of Batti Gul Meter Chaalu was stalled for a few days due to non-payment issues. The filming resumed after Prernaa Arora settled the bills of the production unit. Later, Prernaa stepped down from the project and T-Series' Bhushan Kumar took over. Just like for Fanney Khan, Vashu Bhagnani also claimed the distribution rights of Batti Gul Meter Chaalu.
John Abraham vs Prernaa Arora - Parmanu: The Story Of Pokhran
John Abraham teamed up with Prernaa Arora to produce Parmanu: The Story Of Pokhran but the film's post-production was delayed after Prernaa's company failed to release funds on time. The release date was also changed several times to avoid clash with other KriArj projects (apart from Sanjay Leela Bhansali's embattled "Padmaavat"). In a bold move, John Abraham released a film poster without mentioning KriArj, officially severing ties with Prernaa Arora's company. They filed many suits against each other but John Abraham emerged victorious.
Abhishek Kapoor vs Prernaa Arora - Kedarnath
Sara Ali Khan's debut film Kedarnath became a war-front of sorts for Prernaa and director-producer Abhishek Kapoor. Prernaa accused Abhishek for not completing the film on time leading to financial losses and he in turn blamed her for not releasing adequate funds. Later, Ronnie Screwvala's company took over the project by compensating KriArj Entertainment and other production companies associated with the project. Now, Kedarnath is jointly produced by Abhishek Kapoor and Ronnie Screwvala and the film will open in theatres in December.