Aishwarya Rai’s Fanne Khan shoot stalled, fourth KriArj film in trouble?

After Shahid Kapoor-starrer Batti Gul Meter Chalu, Sara Ali Khan’s Bollywood debut Kedarnath and John Abraham’s Parmanu The Story of Pokharan, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan’s Fanne Khan also seems to be in trouble as the film’s shot has been reportedly stalled. This is the fourth film under KriArj Entertainment banner to face trouble in the past few months. Produced by Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra, Fanne Khan also stars Anil Kapoor and Rajkummar Rao.

A Mid Day report quoted an unnamed crew member from Fanne Khan as saying, “The freelancers associated with the project have a contract with KriArj Entertainment. We were told that the payments would come in by early March, but haven’t received a penny. So, we’ve decided not to start work on the next schedule till we get paid. We have given an ultimatum to the producers to clear the dues by April 15.”

Shahid Kapoor’s Batti Gul Meter Chalu stalled over non-payment of dues?

However, co-producers of the film, Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra Pictures (ROMP), have claimed the shoot was stalled because of unavailability of choreographers. Rajiv Tandon of ROMP told the tabloid, “We were working towards getting a particular choreographer on board. That took a while. The shoot is lined up for April 24 to May 7.”

While Prerna Arora of KriArj Entertainent remained unavailable for a comment, a spokesperson for the production house told Hindustan Times, “There seems to be a concerted and obvious effort from some people who are trying to create stories on a regular basis to try and malign our production house. We have been putting a sincere and determined effort to make good films and further establish ourselves into this great industry and will continue to do so. We believe in keeping our head down and focus on doing good work.”

Till early this year, Prerna’s KriArj was riding high with major projects such as Akshay Kumar’s PadMan and Anushka Sharma’s Pari. All their films proved to be box office success stories and KriArj bagged several deals with various filmmakers.

However, they began treading troubled waters when Sara Ali Khan’s Bollywood debut, Kedarnath, had to be stalled citing issues over non-payment of dues. KriArj blamed director Abhishek Kapoor’s unprofessional behaviour for the troubles. The film has now been acquired by Ronnie Screwvala’s RSVP and will resume shoot in Mumbai by April end.

Sara Ali Khan is likelt to make her Bollywood debut with Kedarnath opposite Sushant Singh Rajput

John Abraham’s ambitious project, Parmanu was the next to get stuck after KriArj and JA Entertainment filed complaints against each other over ownership of the film. John recently shared a teaser and poster of the film and announced the release date of May 4. KriArj, on the other hand, claimed infringement of copyright and fraud.

Even as the previous two controversies are yet to be settled, a third one cropped up earlier this week for KriArj Entertainment -- Shahid’s Batti Gul Meter Chalu had to be reportedly stalled because of the same issue, non-payment of dues.

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