It’s payback time for filmmaker Hansal Mehta. The Supreme Court has attached the revenue paid to him from all projects involving him in various capacities beginning with Omerta which releases next month.
The Supreme Court came down heavily on Hansal Mehta and his production house Karma, after Adarsh Telemedia filed a lawsuit against Mehta and his associates.
Trouble had started when Mehta’s film Simran ran into troubled waters. He had managed to convince Calcutta based Adarsh Telemedia to bail the film out by lending him a sum of over Rs.7 crore against a minimum guarantee. This enabled the film, a Kangana Ranaut-starrer, to release in September last year.
Hansal along with producer Shailesh Singh had borrowed the monies from Amit Agarwal of Adarsh Telemedia. When Agarwal wanted to take a stay on Simran, they pleaded with him not to do so and even returned an amount partially. However, they failed to pay Amit Agarwal the monies back.
Post the film’s release, Mehta ignored the constant reminders from Amit Agarwal of Adarsh Telemedia. Even as Mehta got involved in other projects, the production house got an arbitration order in their favour.
Now with his Omerta up for release, it is time to repay the dues… As per the order, whatever Mehta earns to the tune of Rs.7 crore, should be deposited in a separate bank account.
Adarsh Telemedia has also issued a public notice for the film trade stating that all films involving Hansal and Shailesh will be under lien. Filmmakers and others connected to both Shailesh and Hansal have responded directly to Adarsh Telemedia seeking more details. Apparently, Balaji has also been in touch with Amit Agarwal regarding Mental Hai Kya.
This new development comes on the heels of the problems that Mehta has already been facing with Omerta. His pet project featuring Rajkummar Rao has already been in trouble with the censors, among others.
