Kedarnath has been facing trouble since the very beginning. It was recently that, Ronnie Screwvala took over Abhishek Kapoor’s film after compensating producers Ekta Kapoor, Prernaa Arora and Bhushan Kumar for it. But its troubles didn’t end there. According to a new report in Mid-day, three companies, viz, Vashu Bhagnani‘s Pooja Entertainment, Gothic Entertainment and Padma Ispat Private Limited went to Ronnie, claiming that they own the Indian theatrical rights of the films. They’ve even shared a copy of their contracts with Prernaa of KriArj Entertainment, as proof that the rights were sold to them.
Mid-day quoted a source saying:
Ronnie and Abhishek were stunned when they received a copy of the legal agreement between Prerna and Vashu Bhagnani, which showed that she had sold Indian theatrical rights of her entire slate to him. Soon, they were approached by two more companies which made similar claims. Neither of the other former producers [Ekta Kapoor and Bhushan Kumar] were aware of these agreements.
Abhishek confirmed that an NC had been filed and said:
“It’s shocking to know that there are people in the business who think it’s okay to sell assets that do not belong to them.”
Prerna shared her side of the story saying:
Everything has now been sold to Ronnie Screwvala. But at no point did I or KriArj know about it [the sale] till we read it in the papers. I only had got a confirmation from T-Series and an NOC letter from them saying that Abhishek will return the R15 crore before the shoot. Regarding Vashuji, we had a long-term deal to make films together.
But I had no time to inform him about the termination of the Kedarnath deal. Vashuji [must have] read it in the papers too, and approached Ronnie accordingly. I should have officially terminated my paperwork with Vashuji. Where Gothic and Padma Ispat are concerned, they have nothing to do with the film. This will be proved in the court.
Bhagnani still maintains that he owns the rights to the film:
I have been doing business with Prernaa for over a year. I was shocked to read that Ronnie has taken over the film when the rights are with me. He can’t release the movie, without my consent, and until he pays me my money.
Kedarnath was supposed to be Sara Ali Khan‘s debut with Sushant Singh Rajput but it just seems to be jinxed for now. The actress will now be seen in Simmba opposite Ranveer Singh.