Hansal Mehta's caller tune is still Muskurane Ki Wajah
Tum Ho from his Rajkummar Rao starrer Citylights, but we bet our last shirt
that it's not applicable on the producer of his new upcoming Rajkummar film
Omerta, Furqan Khan.
SpotboyE.com has it that Furqan has not paid several people from his
last film, Haseena Parkar starring Shraddha Kapoor. Not only Shraddha and her
brother-cum-co-star Siddhanth's staff remains not fully paid, we hear that even
the caterers working on the film are tearing their hair out.
Omerta Poster
The cumulative outstanding amount is to the tune of Rs 2.5 crore.
So now, this entire gang who has been shortchanged has complained to their
respective Unions who in turn have approached the Federation, and last heard,
they would want an injunction to be passed to stall the release of Omerta.
Let's see what the Unions and Federation do about this.
A Still Of Rajkummar Rao From Omerta
So, it is possible that Omerta might, we repeat might, find itself not keeping
up with its scheduled release date of April 20. The film has already been
delayed, it was originally supposed to hit theatres on September
8 last year.
We called up Hansal, heard his caller tune Muskrane Ki Wajah Tum Ho till it
lasted, and then texted him (in detail). He chose to not respond. With a prayer
in our heart that the National award filmmaker's next labour of love goes
unscratched, we then dialled Furqan.
Shraddha Kapoor And Hansal Mehta
Furqan's number was getting forwarded--- but when it got forwarded, we were
told that the number is switched off! Had Khan kept his number deliberately
off?
And lo! Suddenly, he called us with a WhatsApp call. He roared, "Listen,
Hansal has told me what you guys are digging. If you write this story, I will
send you a legal notice." What a start to a conversation! We, who have
never been cowed down by legal threats, replied, "We are doing the story
because it is doesn't get more true than this." He shot back, "Okay,
then write it," and hung up.
Haseena Parkar Poster
Well, so here is the story, Furqan-- above we have written what all you did to
your Haseena staff, and below we produce the evidence we have from the people
whom you cheated (Incidentally, Furqan produced a Marathi film called
Cheater), talking to us on record:
Says Simrin, who styled Shraddha's hair, "I have not received Rs 80,000 on
Haseena Parkar. Bahut baar Sameer Sheikh ko phone kiya, the guy who was
co-ordinating with me, from Furqan's end- ultimately he told me he can't do
anything and I am free to go to Union. Haseena was a very bad experience and
80K is a big amount for me.
Still Of Shraddha Kapoor From Haseena Parkar
Says Sunil Nijvekar, in-charge of Production Design and Art Direction of
Haseena Parkar, "Furqan has yet to pay me Rs 22-23 Lakh. When a story of
such nature appeared in a section of the media sometime back, Furqan sent all
of us a legal notice that we were trying to tarnish the name of his company
Swiss Entertainment. Of course, we did not keep quiet and sent him a fitting
reply through our lawyer. Furqan is aggressive and incorrigible. If i am not
wrong, he has done a similar thing on his two earlier films- One Night Stand (starring
Sunny Leone) and Cheater- as well."
Still Of Shraddha Kapoor From Haseena Parkar
Endorsing Nijvekar, fashion designer Ajay Mistry of M & M Designs says,
"I lost Rs 40 Lakh on the film. It was a barter deal with Furqan that
Shraddha will wear our clothes during some of her promotions. And yes, it was a
certain Sameer Sheikh who was co-ordinating with us from Furqan's end. Sameer
was apparently making a fool of us. Shraddha did not wear our clothes for
reasons which we are still unaware of. Neither she nor Furqan was forthcoming
on why this was happening, not that they didn't promote their film at
all. Furqan exactly knows what he has done and how he conned us, but he
will never own up. Trust me, I wasted 18 months on this, thinking it was a good
opportunity--- but look at what I got."
Advocate Rizwan Siddiqui who filed a case on behalf of Mistry, says,
"There is an inquiry going on against Furqan. He was also sent summons.
We had filed a case against him."
Rajkummar Rao
Dialogue Writer of Haseena Parkar, Chintan Gandhi. who also has outstanding
dues at Furqan's end, chose to not comment. A friend of his called up to say,
"Chintan's matter is with the Writer's association. He is not supposed to
speak. We hope that you guys will understand."
SpotboyE.com has it that Furqan has defaulted the most on Nabeel Abbas(head of apigram who handled the publicity design in media), whose
outstanding amount is approximately Rs 38 Lakh. Nabeel says, "Yes this is true."
Shraddha Kapoor
We texted the respected Hansal to ask him how he deals with a man like
Furqan, and also told him that he has threatened to send us a legal notice
which is not going to make us run for cover. Again, Hansal chose to not
respond. Obviously he knows that Furqan's track record has caught up with him
and may cloud the release of Omerta. Anyway, maybe it's the rule in Bollywood,
keep quiet about the man who is Mr Moneybags for your film. Ji Hansal, we know
how difficult it is to get funding these days.
Phew! These non-payments in Bollywood, we tell you.
Image Source: Instagram/ rajkummar_rao/ shraddhakapoor