Hrithik's Next With Daddy Dearest Lands In Legal Tangle

We were the first to tell you that Rakesh Roshan has signed up Sanjay Gupta to direct his son Hrithik in a film which is supposed to go on floors in January (BUZZ: Hrithik Roshan In Sanjay Gupta's Next, Oct 21). We are now the first to tell you that the film has met with a serious roadblock.


Image source: movies.dosthana

Little does anyone know that how Papa Rakesh got into the picture. The story began from Sudhanshu Pandey's office where Sanjay Gupta got excited reading a script which Pandey claims is written by him.


Image source: Manav Manglani

Buzz is, Gupta took the script to Ekta Kapoor who was equally excited to come on board as a producer. So, all seemed set until Gupta had a meeting with Hrithik Roshan to know if he would be interested to play the lead.

Hrithik, who jumped at the offer, had only one request: 'Show the script to my Daddy', he said.

Gupta promptly met Roshan Sr, who, we hear, was simply blown away by the film's story.

And then? Then, Sudhanshu Pandey and Ekta Kapoor were completely cut off from the scene!

Naturally, Pandey was livid when he learnt that Papa Roshan had closed the project with his pyara beta and Gupta without even informing him. 'I am not going to sit haath pe haath rakh ke,' he said to himself.

While Pandey initially remained unavailable for comment, a source close to him said, "Sudhanshu has filed a complaint in IFTPC (Indian Film and TV Producers Council) and will take legal recourse in this matter."

Repeated calls to Pandey eventually brought him on the line. The model-turned-actor who has worked with Gupta in Dus Kahanaiyaan and Alibag (which never got complete) sounded extremely shocked at what he terms a 'breach of trust'.

"I wanted Gupta to direct my film. He has a very stylised way of presenting his stories. This is the last thing I expected from a man whom I know since many years," he lamented.

Recounting the chain of events, Pandey said that he had even met Rakesh Roshan.

So what went wrong, we asked? "Rakesh wanted to produce the film solo, he said he would only credit me as associate producer. I wanted to be a co-producer at least. I did not agree and I was told to think over for a few days. The next thing I knew they had set the stage to roll the film in January. And I was nowhere in the scheme of things!"

Pandey also confirmed that he had met Sameer Nair from Balaji to close the deal, before the Roshans came into the picture.

"I will not leave any stone unturned to get justice. I have hired a lawyer. I am extremely disturbed. How can anybody do like this? I have got all my email and text exchanges with Gupta. The real story begins now, " Pandey concluded. 


Thumbnail image source: indiaforums