Shahid Kapoor Ashwatthama: Vashu Bhagnani and Jackky Bhagnani’s Pooja Entertainment has been facing defamation after several people came out to accuse the production house for not clearing their dues. Among them is director of their film Bade Miyan Chote Miyan, Ali Abbas Zafar along with the cast and crew. FWICE president BN Tiwari in a previous interview with News24 also confirmed the claims. “Besides Ali Abbas Zafar, Vikas Behl’s payment of 2.5 crore for Ganpath and Tinu Desai’s payment of 33 Lakhs for Mission Raniganj have not been cleared by Pooja Entertainment.”
Amid the ongoing financial crisis, the production house has stalled ‘Ashwatthama’. “The film’s shoot was supposed to start soon. However, it has been put on hold due to budget issues. There is a lot going on right now and we don’t know when it will start,” shares a source close to production.
The source further confirms that the makers are using this time to finalize other actors. “While the main actor Shahid Kapoor has been confirmed, makers are still in talks with people for other pivotal roles. Once they sign them and financial issues get sorted, the film’s production will hopefully start.”
The controversy surrounding Ashwatthama
The film has been in news for something or the other for a long time. Earlier, Vicky Kaushal was in talks for the titular role, with Aditya Dhar donning the director’s hat. However, reports stated that he has been replaced by Allu Arjun. But nothing concrete ever came out.
In February, during the promotions of Article 370, Aditya finally spoke about the film and shared that it has been put on hold due to several reasons. “We have put that on a back burner right now. I will be honest, the kind of vision we all had for that, it was too big to work for Indian cinema. The kind of VFX quality we were looking at, nobody has even strived for it here. Until the technology becomes affordable or cinema halls increase, we will wait,” he shared.
New development in the matter came when months later, Shahid Kapoor shared a poster on his social media handle and confirmed that he has signed the film as lead. The director’s hat was also passed on to Sachin Ravi.
FWICE Speaks On Pooja Entertainment Controversy
Speaking to un exclusively, FWICE President BN Tiwari said they are making progress in the matter. “Film’s director Ali Abbas Zafar and his companion Himanshu Mehra are clearing the dues of crew and cast through the subsidy amount their received from Abu Dhabi authorities during Bade Miyan Chote Miyan. We are trying to sort the matter in a calm manner. It’s good if everyone receives their payment,” shares Tiwari.
