My heart bleeds for Athiya Shetty. Suniel Shetty's daughter certainly didn't deserve a film wherein the director is sacked and the producer (Rajesh Bhatia) not only makes changes as per his vision but also does not pay up. That's what it seems to have happened, if our conversation with Debamitra Hasan, the captain of the ship, was anything to go by. The ugly fracas is now being endorsed by some crew members- Editor, Choreographer, Art Director, EXCLUSIVE on SpotboyE.com
When contacted, Editor Chandan Arora said that whatever Debamitra Hasan had told us in that interview was true to the last word and he totally supports her. Was she abused by Bhatia, we asked? "Yes," came the reply. Did he tell her 'F**k you, b**ch'? "Yes," he said again.
Arora further said that he has no clue why Bhatia is out to tarnish a good product, "Athiya and Nawaz have done a very good job, I guess Bhatia has ego issues."
Arora tried to brush off the question that how much has Bhatia got to still pay him. "That is immaterial. Right now, the issue is the film. I remember that Viacom 18's representative had loved the film after he saw the first cut."
Will he work with Bhatia again? "There are producers of many kinds in this industry and Bhatia is one of them. I know how to deal with the decisions I will take in future."
When prodded about the payment not being complete by asking if he had complained to FWICE, Arora finally said, "Yes, I have complained."
Choreographer Raju Khan also says that he had an unpleasant experience with Bhatia in Motichoor Chaknachoor. "I also have complained to FWICE. Bhatia has still to pay me Rs 1 lakh. Bhatia does not respond to me, neither via calls nor text messages. FYI, the song he's lately been shooting with Sunny Leone and Nawaz is not being done by me."
Art Director Roshan told SpotboyE.com that he and his team had to go on a wild goose chase to get their fees. "Bhatia kept giving me tareekh pe tareekh. I had a bit of a heated argument with Salim who was from Bhatia's production team, when he told me that his hands were tied. Finally, he paid me but not without unfairly deducting Rs 40,000 which he said he was taking from me because I was responsible that one of his machines was not to be seen."
Added Roshan, "Ek to pehle se kam paise bole the. But how can you enjoy work if your money does not come to you on time?"
We texted Bhatia, telling him that his crew had complained that he has harassed them on their payments, but Bhatia chose to not respond.
Rajesh Bhatia, maybe you took the name of your film a bit too seriously. Kya samjhe, nahin samjhe? Look at the heading again, samajh jaoge. And if you're guilty, maybe your conscience stirs you to at least pay the dues.
Image Source;- instagram/athiyashetty/sunielshetty/pinteret
Image Source;- instagram/athiyashetty/sunielshetty/pinteret