Bharat Shah, Subhash Ghai and many others woke up this morning to a bad news. Mazda Theatres, the company that owns the popular Grant Road building Naaz building, owes BMC Rs 4.13 crore, and due to the non-payment of the dues, the building has been sealed.
Subhash Ghai
Naaz houses offices of the popular film distributors and exhibitors such as Sholay producer GP Sippy, Subhash Ghai's Mukta Arts, Rahul Haksar’s Janta Film Distributors and Ramesh Sippy of Raksha Films. Not just them, even NN Sippy’s production house now run by Pravesh Sippy, and Bharat Shah’s distribution company also have their offices in the same premises.
The Sealed Entrance
With the property getting sealed, all the offices will have to bear the brunt.
According to a report on Mumbai Mirror, Mazda Theatres, the company that owns Naaz, owes the BMC Rs 4.1 crore in property tax. On December 3, the BMC issued Mazda Theatres a demand notice of Rs 4.13 crore in pending property tax dues. The order to seal was issued by the additional municipal commissioner.
Naaz Building
“As per procedure, when dues were not paid within three weeks, we decided to seal the other building today,” confirmed Assistant Municipal Commissioner, D ward, V P Mote, while speaking to Mirror.
Ramesh Sippy informed Mirror, “The BMC notice states that the dues are pending for 20 years but the owners kept us in the dark. We have been paying our rent duly along with taxes, it is the owner who has defaulted.”
A representative of Bharat Shah’s company added, “The BMC is hand-in-glove. But this time, since they are lagging in collection of property tax, they decided to take action. We have been here for the past 20 years.”
Bharat Shah
“Why has the BMC suddenly decided to take action? My father is 85 and I am also unwell. Now they are putting pressure on me through the tenants. I need some time,” questioned Rajeev Anand, son of RP Anand, who owns the building. He also added that he had replied to the notice issued in December and the matter was now with the Urban Development department.
Reports suggest that Mazda Theatres is in the process of selling the building. But there is no confirmation on the same yet.
Image Source: twitter/bubbleworld