On its April 17 release, Bhooth Bangla set the cash registers ringing, leaving Akshay Kumar, director Priyadarshan, and producer Ektaa R Kapoor elated. But the joy has hardly reached its crew members. Some of them are disheartened, waiting almost six months for their dues to be cleared.
mid-day spoke to a vendor working on the horror comedy, who claimed that Balaji Telefilms Limited owes him close to Rs 30 lakh in fees. “Payments are getting stuck for months. Once the film releases, it becomes difficult to get the money out. The 90-day invoice clearance has become a thing of the past,” said the vendor, on the condition of anonymity.
Ektaa R Kapoor. Pic/Yogen Shah
Another member, who allegedly has been waiting months to be paid their fee of R18 lakh, rued that non-payment is becoming a common problem in the industry. That it happened on a big film indicates the worsening situation. “Top talent and key vendors are prioritised when it comes to payment. The crew is asked to wait,” said the crew member.
Several crew members of indie thriller Nemesis have accused its producers of non-payment and hostile working conditions. Writer Pranjal Kriplani has apparently sent producers Alok Kumar Chaubey and Sanjay Gupta a legal notice, accusing them of defaulting on his payment of Rs 50,000. A crew member said, “When the Bhopal shoot was stalled in January due to lack of funds, we couldn’t check out of the hotel for a week as the staff claimed producers hadn’t cleared their bill.”
When mid-day reached out to Balaji Telefilms Limited, it said, “Balaji Telefilms Limited has fulfilled all its contractual payment obligations in relation to various projects undertaken by the company.”
Colour Yellow Productions, Chaubey, and Gupta didn’t respond till press time.
Tu Yaa Main
Earlier this week, Nikhil Pai, who worked as a second camera operator on Aanand L Rai’s production ‘Tu Yaa Main’, wrote on Instagram Stories, “Congratulations on the theatre and Netflix release. Please clear the invoices. It’s beyond due… if you reply to calls and emails that would be much appreciated.”