Just a week before, there was news all over the media stating that Ekta Kapoor has demanded a whopping Rs. 1.5 crores from Sanjay Dutt for a film that the actor was supposed to do before his untimely imprisonment and legal action too was taken against the actor’s family.
However refuting the rumours, the COO of Sanjay Dutt Productions and Ekta Kapoor have jointly given a statement that clarifies their stand.
Dipti Jindal, COO of Sanjay Dutt Productions said, “Inspite of personal turmoil, Sanjay Dutt made sure nobody suffered, especially smaller producers and debutante directors. Few days after he surrendered, Mrs. Dutt contacted producers and asked them whether they would like to wait for Mr. Dutt to return and do their films or would like their signing amounts back. Few producers like Ikkon Films (India) Pvt. Ltd, T. P. Agarwal, Shri Jaganaath Entertainment Pvt. Ltd, an ad film producer, who were not in the capacity to wait were refunded the signing amount either in a single tranche or mutually agreed installments. The Dutts would not like to see anyone suffer because of their personal setback.”
She further adds that, “The dispute between Balaji & The Dutts is absolutely baseless. In fact the only talks on between the two are that of working together in the near future.”
Voicing out similar thoughts, Ekta Kapoor too dismissed this news as frivolous. She says, “The story is frivolous, I value relationships more than money. The Dutt family is like an extended family to me. I would never think of bothering Bhabi (Maanyata) with such a trivial matter, knowing that Sanju sir is not around. I am looking forward to working with the Dutts soon.”
Sanjay Dutt’s wife Maanyata who is currently handling the affairs of his production house, in his absence, also spoke about the issue saying, “It is unfortunate that people, be it friends or foes, while being misinformed themselves become sources of such stories, and it is not even considered fit that things be confirmed with the concerned person and his family. We have the highest regards for Jeetu uncle, Shobha aunty and Ekta. We are looking forward for a long working association in the near future with Balaji.”
While they gave a clear indication of still maintaining a healthy relationship with each other’s family, there were other producers who too confirmed that Maanyata Dutt had returned the said amount to them on time, after Sanjay Dutt couldn’t fulfill the contract signed with them. One such producer was Aditya Narayan Singh from Shri Jagganath Entertainment Pvt. Ltd. He said, “We had signed Mr. Sanjay Dutt and the project stalled due to the markets collapsing at that given point. I personally for one can say that he decided to support a new project and extended full co-operation. Unfortunately when the new project did not take off due to circumstances known to us all, Mrs. Dutt promptly called and their office reimbursed the signing amount due to us. This gesture which is touching as there are many actors who never reimburse monies or even try to help a producer create his film project.”
Adding further, Bipin Jain from Ikkon Films said, “Mrs. Dutt’s call came as a surprise when she asked me if I would like to wait and do a film with Mr. Dutt or get the signing amount back. Unable to hold the money, I reluctantly asked for it back and as promised by Mrs. Dutt I was refunded the entire amount.”
