In a recent interview, 'Section 375' writer, Manish Gupta revealed some BTS incidents involving Akshaye Khanna.
Akshaye Khanna is currently at the centre of a controversy after Drishyam 3 producer, Mangat Pathak, hurled several accusations post his exit. For the unversed, Akshaye was part of the hit franchise, Drishyam, and played the role of an investigating officer, IG 'Tarun Ahlawat' in Drishyam 2. Mangat also talked about the time, when he worked with Akshaye in the film, Section 375, and supported him. Amid the controversy, Section 375 writer, Manish Gupta has opened up about some BTS incidents involving the Dhurandhar star.
In a recent interview with Bollywood Hungama, Section 375 writer, Manish Gupta, revealed that Akshaye Khanna had signed his film, Section 375 and his fee was fixed at Rs. 2 crore. He shared that the Dhurandhar star took an advance of Rs. 21 lakhs and suddenly gave away the dates to another film, The Accidental Prime Minister. Manish mentioned that after Akshaye flew off to London, he and his crew had to wait for six months. He was quoted as saying:
"In 2017, Akshaye signed my film Section 375 with me as director-writer and Kumar Mangat as producer. His fee was fixed at Rs. 2 crores. He took an advance of Rs. 21 lakhs, and he signed a contract with us. But suddenly, he gave away the dates he’d committed to us to another movie, The Accidental Prime Minister, and he flew off to London to shoot that movie, leaving me and my crew waiting idle for six months!"
Manish revealed that after Akshaye returned, he started demanding Rs. 3.25 crore as his fee, thus breaching his contract. He highlighted that the Dhurandhar actor’s 'unreasonable' demands didn’t end with the fee hike, and he wanted full control of the film, Section 375. Manish added that he stood up to Akshaye’s unreasonable behaviour. He was quoted as saying:
"Then, after finishing that movie, Akshaye came back and started demanding Rs. 3.25 crores, instead of the Rs 2 crores signed by him in the contract. He thus breached his contract. Akshaye’s unreasonable demands did not end here. He wanted to fully control the film and wanted everything done his way. But I am not the sort of director who gives in to the whims of any actor. I stood up to Akshaye’s unreasonable behaviour. But sadly, in Bollywood, most directors bend to every wish of the actor."
Further in the interview, Manish opened up about how film producer, Mangat Pathak backed the Dhurandhar actor during the filming of Section 375. Manish mentioned that Akshaye’s ego was being hurt as he had to take orders from an authoritarian director like him, and thus the actor pestered the producer, Mangat Pathak, to remove him as the director. He recalled how he was removed from the project. He added that he warned Akshaye and had sent two legal notices to Mangat Pathak. He was quoted as saying:
"Producer Kumar Mangat, instead of disciplining the actor’s unreasonable behaviour, made me a scapegoat and removed me as the director while seizing my fully-written bound script and the hard drive containing my three years of hard work on the pre-production. I warned Akshaye that I would drag him to court, and I had sent two legal notices to producer Kumar Mangat. My lawyers, Naik Naik & Co., were filing a case at Bombay High Court against both of them, but Kumar Mangat promptly did an out-of-court settlement with me."
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