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Akshay Kumar and Tiger Shroff-starrer 2024 film Bade Miyan Chote Miyan resulted in over Rs 200 crore loss for producer Vashu Bhagnani and now, he has accused director Ali Abbas Zafar of laundering money through a ‘benami company’ based in Abu Dhabi. In a recent interview, Vashu said that his name has been maligned in the controversy following the film’s release and said that the director, who had also taken responsibility of production via his company Jolly Humper, has not conducted his operations legally.
Vashu told ANI Bharat, “We made the film together. I was supposed to put in the capital and Ali Abbas Zafar was supposed to do the production and direction. And we had decided the budget of the film beforehand. We did not interfere in the making and everyone knows about it.” He said that he learnt a couple of months ago that Jolly Jumper is a ‘benami company’ started under the name of Ali’s assistant, and accused them of laundering money via this company. “I think legally, it is not correct,” he said and added, “I believe they have taken out some Rs 10-15 crore from the company and they have spent some of it. If the authorities can get the bank statement of Jolly Jumper, everything will be sorted.”
Vashu Bhagnani said that Ali Abbas Zafar was a credible director with films like Sultan and Tiger Zinda Hai, but he started doing “illegal things” once he started his business. He recalled that after Bade Miyan Chote Miyan’s shoot was completed, Ali told him about the film being over budget by around Rs 80 crore. The filmmaker claimed that he assured Ali that they would divide this cost between themselves and recover the money in the next few films they make together.
Vashu then shared that the film was being made under the company BMCM UK, and he is the “authorised person” for that as well as he is also a producer in the UK. The producer claimed that after the film went over budget, they adjusted some of the actors’ fee and requested them to take a lesser amount. When asked to elaborate on it, he said that the film’s accounts are still pending as Ali’s company was handling that as well and have not handed over the accounts to them.
“Now they have started a new story in the market that they never did any production,” he said and shared that it was Ali’s intention to defraud them from the start. “People have maligned my name with this film. Vashu Bhagnani lost everything, lost his house, all these stories have been created so no one blames them,” he said and added, “Now that I have paid everyone, I don’t want my name to get maligned.” He also accused Ali Abbas Zafar and his partner of taking a loan from him and said that he has not called them in eight months because “I have an ego.”
Bade Miyan Chote Miyan was made on a massive budget and sank upon release. At the time, the producers were accused of non-payment of actors.
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