It looks like Sushant Singh Rajput and Sara Ali Khan starrer Kedarnath needs some divine intervention. A new controversy over the rights of the film has erupted now. It’s been hardly a fortnight since Ronnie Screwvala took over Abhishek Kapoor’s film from Ekta Kapoor, Prernaa Arora and Bhushan Kumar after compensating them; the film finds itself in trouble once again. Apparently, three different companies have approached Screwvala claiming that they own the Indian theatrical rights of the film.
According to a leading daily, three companies - Vashu Bhagnani's Pooja Entertainment, Gothic Entertainment and Kolkata-based Padma Ispat Private Limited have come forward to claim that they own the Indian theatrical rights of Kedarnath. The studios have furnished documents stating their contracts with Aroraa of KriArj Entertainment, which states that she sold the rights to them and not to Screwvala.
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According to a source, “Ronnie and Abhishek were stunned when they received a copy of the legal agreement between Prerna and Vashu Bhagnani, which showed that she had sold Indian theatrical rights of her entire slate to him. Soon, they were approached by two more companies which made similar claims. Neither of the other former producers (Ekta Kapoor and Bhushan Kumar) were aware of these agreements."
Abhishek confirmed that an NC has been filed against his estranged business partner Aroraa said, “It's shocking to know that there are people in the business who think it's okay to sell assets that do not belong to them.”
On the other hand, Aroraa on her part claims that she is not the guilty party and said, “Everything has now been sold to Ronnie Screwvala. But at no point did I or KriArj know about it (the sale) till we read it in the papers. I only had got a confirmation from T-Series and an NOC letter from them saying that Abhishek will return the R15 crore before the shoot. Regarding Vashuji, we had a long-term deal to make films together. But I had no time to inform him about the termination of the Kedarnath deal. Vashuji (must have) read it in the papers too, and approached Ronnie accordingly. I should have officially terminated my paperwork with Vashuji. Where Gothic and Padma Ispat are concerned, they have nothing to do with the film. This will be proved in the court."
However, Vashu Bhagnani is adamant on the fact that the release rights for the film stays with him. He said, “I have been doing business with Prernaa for over a year. I was shocked to read that Ronnie has taken over the film when the rights are with me. He can't release the movie, without my consent, and until he pays me my money.”
