Tuesday, 11th March, 7:44 PM IST

It seems like earlier Dar MotionPictures had received a legal notice on behalf of Zee’s Essel Vision whendespite being the co-producer for ‘The Lunchbox’, they were not informed aboutawarding the film’s distribution rights to UTV and Karan Johar.

 

After the film ‘D-Day’ was released,its director Nikhil Advani was upset with Dar Motion Pictures as they sold theTelugu rights of the film to a distributor who showcased it as a sleazy film byusing a photograph of Shruti Haasan. However, Shruti disassociated herself fromthe film and is upset with the production house.

 

Now, the latest news is thatdirector Saurabh Varma, who scripted ‘Mickey Virus’ has sent a registeredcomplaint against Dar Motion Pictures with the Indian Films and TelevisionDirectors Association (IFTDA). According to this, Varma has reported a caseover non-payment of dues and for allegedly stopping him from working on otherprojects.

 

According to a source, “Mickey Viruswas one of the highest grossing films of 2013 in the new actor and new directorcategory, and it was sold to two co-producers – Trilogic Media and AwesomeFilms – soon after the first promo was out. Post this, Dar has shown nointerest in sharing the income with the film’s stakeholders or selling thefilm’s satellite rights. I just wanted them to honour their commitment and giveme my dues as per the contractual understanding. I am a filmmaker who wants tomake good films and they are being unreasonable in restricting me from doingso.”

 

“Saurabh has been wronged by theproduction house. We have sent a notice to them and they will have to appear atthe dispute committee meeting next week. You cannot make a producer wait forthree years. Either make films with him or they should let him make filmsoutside the banner,” says Ashok Pandit, President, IFTDA.

 

Vivek Rangachari from Dar MotionPictures denies the information by saying, “I have been travelling and I willhave to speak to my lawyer to check if we have received a notice, because I amnot aware of it as yet. We need to see that the script is up to the mark andthe rest will be sorted out with Saurabh.”