A film producer has been alleging since 2008 that the actor has taken a signing fee of Rs 21 lakh from him for a film project, but has neither completed the project nor is he prepared to return the amount
The Andheri metropolitan magistrate court directed the Oshiwara police to investigate the matter wherein a producer is alleging that Bollywood actor Kunal Khemu took a signing fee from him, but has refused to act in the film or even return the sum of Rs 21 lakh.
Producer Ravi Agarwal is alleging that actor Kunal Khemu (in pic) has taken Rs 21 lakh as signing amount, but is neither giving him dates to shoot for the film, nor returning the amount. File pic
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According to the complaint, Ravi Agarwal, a producer, approached Kunal to sign him as the lead for a Hindi film titled Overtake. After due discussions, negotiation and narration of the concept, Kunal agreed to work in the film and Agarwal paid him Rs 21 lakh as the signing amount.
Later, Kunal and his father Ravi allegedly started dictating terms and changing the script. Ravi also said Kunal would only work in the film if he appointed Rohit Jugraj as the director, to which Agarwal agreed. During this time, Agarwal said in his complaint, he began working on another script, Superstar, for which he approached Kunal again.
According to the producer, as the script reached the final stages, Kunal and his father began asking for specific appointments in cast and crew. This time, Agarwal refused and Kunal allegedly transferred the project to another production house. After this, Agarwal kept requesting the actor to either do his film or return the money, to which he agreed.
Superstar eventually released in 2008 and Kunal refused to complete Agarwal’s film or pay him back. The producer sent him a notice on May 26, 2012, and also approached the Indian Motion Pictures’ Producers Association (IMPPA). He even tried going to the police, but they rejected his complaint on June 6, 2013.
Agarwal’s lawyer Neeraj Gupta said, “As the police was not taking our complainant, we approached the court in March 2014. After Thursday’s order, the Oshiwara police will investigate the matter and submit a report in court by March 10.”
mid-day had reported on the matter in 2009, and the actor had then expressed his shock at Agarwal’s claims. However, he didn’t reply to any of our calls and messages.
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