Independent production house KriArj Entertainment has run into rough weather with two of its under-production films, Kedarnath and, later, Parmanu: The Story Of Pokhran facing financial disputes.
To make matters worse, entertainment portal bollywoodhungama.com reported today that the shooting of a third film, Batti Gul Meter Chalu, had been stalled by payment issues.
Citing sources, the website said the hotel where the cast and crew were shooting had been locked down and the owner had taken custody of the film unit's property. As per the report, KriArj was looking to co-producer T-Series to bail them out.
Prernaa Arora of KriArj Entertainment remained unavailable for comment. But Batti Gul Meter Chalu director Shree Narayan Singh termed the report baseless.
"I have no idea where all this is coming from," he said. "It is not true. We are very much on schedule. We came back from Uttarakhand on 26 March and are currently preparing to shoot for the Mumbai schedule."
According to the director, the lone issue the team faced in Uttarakhand was that Shahid Kapoor returned two days earlier as he fell sick. "However, we shot for another week there,” he said.
According to Shree Narayan Singh, Kapoor contracted a severe throat infection and even spat blood on a couple of occasions. but the actor was keen to complete the shooting. "So we shot the scenes where he wasn’t required to speak," he said. "Then I requested him to go home, and told him we would finish the remaining shooting in Mumbai. I was to finish shooting with Shahid on 20 March, but we finished two days earlier."
Asked about the schedule in Mumbai, Singh said there are many scenes to be shot in the city, including the court scene. "I’ll be wrapping up the film in May. We are facing a problem with the dates of a few TV artistes who are part of the film. You know how difficult it is to get the dates of TV artistes. We haven’t been able to work out the dates where all would be available.
"The other problem we are facing is the availability of a big floor. Most studios are booked. I have to work on the location and the artistes. But I have the dates of the three leads [Shahid Kapoor, Shraddha Kapoor and Yami Gautam]. I think I should be able to resume shooting from 14 April,” he said.
Batti Gul Meter Chalu is set to be released on 31 August.