Neerja Bhanot’s family moves to court, accuses ‘Neerja’ makers of criminal conspiracy

Ram Madhvani’s film ‘Neerja‘ starring Sonam Kapoor had been one of the most successful films of the last year. The film did not only receive applause from the critics and the audience but, it also received the prestigious National Award for being the best film of the year.But despite all of this, Neerja Bhanot’s family is not at all happy. Apparently, the makers have not shared the profits minted by the film with Neerja Bhanot’s family as per the signed contract and hence, the makers are being accused of criminal conspiracy.

As per the reports, Neerja Bhanot’s family members have filed a petition in Chandigarh High Court accusing the makers for not keeping their promise. The production house was supposed to share 10% of the profit made by the film with Bhanot family but, apparently the makers have failed to keep their promise. ‘Neerja’ had been jointly produced by Atul Kasbekar’s Bling Unplugged and Fox Star Studios. (Also Read: ‘Neerja’ completes a year, Sonam Kapoor acknowledges how it changed her life)

Bhanots’ legal counsel, Hemant Saini, informed the leading tabloid, “The parties entered into an agreement which promised the family 10 per cent profits, over and above the initial stipulated amount. Now, the producers are indicating that the contract referred to the percentage made by Bling alone, and not by both the producers. They claim that the amount the family is demanding belongs to Fox, which, they say, is not a party to the agreement. They say most of the profits have gone to the studio and they can only give what they have. However, it was made clear that if the producers assign the rights to anybody else (in this case, to Fox), they too will be bound by this agreement. It’s a clear case of cheating.”

“The movie made over Rs 135 crore, but Kasbekar’s company said the studio would keep 80 percent of the profits. The family was given a small amount (nearly Rs 25 lakh), which they refused to accept. They wanted to use the profits to set up a charitable trust to help women in need,” Hemant Saini added further.

Let’s see what happens next.

Nikita Thakkar

A strongly opinionated, free-spirited, budding Bollywood journalist, she likes to write anything in her own quirky style. When not running around to get assigned tasks completed, you will find her either painting, indulging in photography or dreaming in the la la land.