Phantom's woes continue. After the news of Vikas Bahl's
sex scandal, Queen director Vikas is said to have been asked to quit. And then,
we brought you the news that his partner Madhu Mantena is fed up of the bad
publicity and in-fighting and has hence decided to go solo.
The latest buzz on Phantom is that its funding partner
Reliance Entertainment might pull out from the alliance.
While nothing is final yet and Shibasish Sarkar (COO, Reliance Entertainment)
refused to revert on the 'likely' withdrawl, the rumour that Reliance
Entertainment is thinking in this direction is growing by the minute. We also
texted Vikas, Madhu, Anurag Kashyap and Vikramaditya Motwane- the four head
honchos of Phantom- but they too did not revert.
For those not in the know, Reliance Entertainment holds 50 % stakes, Anurag-Vikas-Vikramaditya-Madhu 12.5 % each.
A source says, "Combing with Phantom has given many
losses to Reliance Entertainment. The recent sex scandal in Phantom has given
rise to a lot of meetings in Reliance Entertainment, and it is likely that
Phantom (minus Vikas & Madhu?) may be left without an investor.
Take a look at the losses:
Raman Raghav 2.0- Rs 6 cr
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All Is Well - Rs 8.5 cr
Image Source: impawards
Trapped- Rs 5 cr
Image Source: popopics
BFG starring Steven Spielberg- Rs 3.8 cr
Image Source: impawards
Add this to the salary payouts of Phantom which are
rumoured to be around Rs 12 cr per annum
Given the grey of Anurag, Vikas, Vikramaditya and Madhu,
each of these films could have been a profitable venture. But somehow, the
cohesiveness was missing when it came to building these films- and hence things
went awry."
Adds the source, "Even if you don't consider the
recent embarrassment of the sex scandal, you need to ponder a while on the
total losses that Phantom's recent projects have met with. "
What ails Phantom? SpotboyE.com has it that it has lots
of ideas and talent but its four head honchos who are ironically known as
the 'band of brothers' seldom see eye to eye.
Anurag and Vikas are almost always at
loggerheads. Their friction started from the days of Bombay Velvet and they're
still not on the same page. And now with Madhu also not too keen on remaining
within the company, the disagreement quotient is bound to increase as Madhu was
often the mediator in the in-fighting that took place.
A huge amount of work and goodwill will now be required
to see Phantom restored.
Seems, Anurag, Vikas,
Vikramaditya and Madhu will be better off independently. There is no doubt that
Anurag is an extremely talented flimmaker. Vikas Bahl's Kangana Ranaut starrer
Queen has gone down in history. Vikramaditya's Lootera and Trapped were good
movies which unfortunately didn't set the box-office on fire. Last but maybe
not the least, Madhu's credibilty is immensely high in Bollywood.
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