3 weeks ago
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Controversies around Zeenat Aman-led OTT debut series Show Stopper refuse to die down. Days after the Manish Harishankar-directed shows created a stir over financial crunch rumours, Manish and MH Films (the production house) have now filed a police complaint against actress Digangana Suryavanshi for defrauding the team.
Showstopper makers file police complaint against Digangana Suryavanshi
The makers have taken legal action against the actress alleging cheating and criminal breach of trust under IPC Section 420 and Section 406. The complaint asserts that she falsely claimed to secure Akshay Kumar and his company as presenters for the project. The police complaint stated that Digangana asked the makers for an MOU to strike a conversation to bring Kumar on board as the producer. This deal would result in the makers paying Kumar Rs 6 crore and Suryavanshi Rs 75 lakh. It would also entitle her to a Mercedes G Class car. The makers would also need to pay Rs 25 lakh to Akshay’s secretary Vedant Bali and Rs 1 crore to choreographer Ganesh Acharya. Read on to know the details.
Showstopper director statement
In a police report, Harishankar stated, “During the making and after the completion of the said web series, the proposed accused kept telling me that she knows superstars like Akshay Kumar, Shah Rukh Khan and Salman Khan, and as she has personal relations with them. She would be in a position to rope in such popular actors to be the presenters of the said web series initially.”
In the report, Harishankar added that Digangana flew down to Ajmer along with one of his staff members and editor Biren Mohanti at MH Films’ expense where she met Akshay Kumar. The director says, “My editor carried the iPad, which contained entire footage of the web series… She insisted that she should hand over the iPad with the entire 16 episodes of the web series. After that, she told my editor to wait outside as she said that she would go alone and have a meeting with Akshay Kumar. On the pretext of showing the footage/clips of the web series, she took the iPad from my staff and to date has never returned us back.”
He added that he feels she has transferred ‘the valuable material pertaining to the web series’ and may have ‘misused the same for her personal benefits’. The report also noted that Digangana Suryavanshi demanded Rs 6 crore from the production house stating that this amount has to be paid to Akshay Kumar ‘as full final payment towards naming being used in the series as a presenter’.
