The highly-awaited film Maidaan is finally releasing next month in cinemas after a long wait. The Ajay Devgn-starrer faced numerous delays as the team faced various challenges. With the release nearly three weeks away, the makers of the film have now faced one more hurdle. A vendor has filed a case against Maidaan’s producer Boney Kapoor over non-payment of dues of nearly Rs. 1 crore.
As per a report in Mid-Day, the suit has been filed by Ninad Nayampally of Meherafrin Investments Private Limited at a civil court in Dindoshi, Mumbai against Boney Kapoor and also the other producers. Moreover, Ninad has even sought an injunction to prevent the release of Maidaan on Eid.
Ninad Nayampally told Mid-Day that they provided camera-related equipment to the unit of Maidaan. He revealed that initially, their invoices were cleared but the situation changed from December 2020. Once the payments stopped coming, Ninad raised the issue with Boney Kapoor. Ninad stated that Boney, at that time, assured them that their dues would be cleared. But when that didn’t happen, they decided to issue a legal notice to Boney Kapoor’s production house, Bayview Projects LLP.
Ninad Nayampally then said, “Having no route left, we took the legal recourse and issued a legal notice to Bayview and its directors with the intention that we would get some clarification on our dues. To our surprise, there was no response to our legal notice. Left with no other option, approaching the court of law was the only solution for our recovery.”
Easiah Dhanpal Xavier, who is also the complainant in the suit, added, “The producer had assured us that the outstanding dues would be settled before the release of the film. However, the producer and his partners have ceased all communications with us. Their conduct indicates a clear lack of intention to settle the outstanding dues owed to us.”
The article also carries screenshots of WhatsApp chats between Boney Kapoor and the vendor. It dates back to July 2023 and depicts the vendor asking for payment and when their dues would be cleared. Boney doesn’t reply to these pleas. Another screenshot shows the vendor once again approaching the producer in August. This time, Boney Kapoor asks him to meet him after August 14 or 15. This is followed by the vendor messaging on August 21 and 22 to ask about the meeting, which proves that both never met after August 15. These messages also didn’t elicit a response from the veteran producer.
Boney Kapoor, however, spoke to Mid-Day and he claimed that he owes Rs. 63 lakhs and not Rs. 1 crore to Meherafrin Investments Private Limited. He stated, “I have spoken to my team and he (Ninad) has been told that he would be paid before the release of the picture, which is only a month away. Not only he, other vendors also have been promised the same. Everybody knows that the (movie) was stuck because of COVID.”
He continued, “I have made 45 films and nobody has been deprived in my company. There is no way that I will avoid any kind of payment. This is nothing but an arm-twisting tactic. I will clear whatever the bill is, excluding interest on the pending amount. We will reply to whatever is mentioned in the suit in court but he can’t seek an injunction before Rs 63 lakh is paid.”
