‘They offered me a film role…’: Ex-Union Minister Ramesh Nishank’s daughter accuses Mumbai producer couple of ‘scamming’ her of Rs 4 crore

Convinced, she invested in the movie but was later eventually “dropped”, the FIR states, adding that, on confronting them, she was “mocked” for her Garhwali background and “threatened”.

“They introduced themselves as directors of Mini Film Private Limited and stated that they were producing a film featuring actors Shanaya Kapoor and Vikrant Massey. They offered me a significant role in the film but said that I would only get this role if I invested Rs 5 crore in the project. They assured me that this investment would entitle my firm to a 20 percent profit share, estimated to be over Rs 15 crore,” she said.

The couple has been booked for extortion, cheating, forgery and criminal intimidation, among other sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).

In her complaint, Arushi, who has appeared in music videos, claims that the producers told her that if she was not satisfied with the role, her investment would be returned with an annual interest of 15 percent. The couple allegedly signed an agreement with her production house Himshree Films and eventually took Rs 4 crore in three instalments, promising to promote her on their official social media pages.

“They demanded another instalment of Rs 2 crore from my firm without fulfilling their previous commitments. On February 5, I realised their fraud when I was informed through their representative that the film’s shooting in India was completed and the remaining shoot would be done in Europe. He also said another actress had been selected for my role,” Arushi said.

“The accused harassed and threatened to kill me and my family and defamed me publicly by mocking my Garhwali background with body-shaming comments. They threatened to file false cases against my father and me if I filed a complaint or demanded my money back,” she said.

Dehradun Senior Superintendent of Police Ajai Singh said that the police were looking into it.

“We will call parties concerned for their statements and if needed, police will go to Mumbai for evidence collection. But if any derogatory remarks are made against the complainant based on her place of residence, strict action will be taken as per law,” he added.

Response from Mini Films

Responding to the queries from The Indian Express, Varun Bagla claimed it was a “civil dispute and the allegations are false”.

In its official statement issued later in the night, Mini Films claimed it was Arushi who approached them to work on the film “for a small role in exchange of investing in the film, stating that investing in the film would help her achieve this”, it said, also accusing Arushi of “threatening” them.

“She (Arushi) claimed it would also position her as the face of Uttarakhand and boost her political career too. To persuade us, she highlighted her alleged strong ties with Uttarakhand CM Pushkar Singh Dhami, mentioning to us how she had invited him to the set of her web series ‘Life Hill Gayi’ and promised to do the same for our film. However, once she came on board, she began threatening and demanding a larger role as a parallel lead of the film,” it said.

While the team was shooting in Dehradun, Arushi’s husband Abhinav Pant invited them to his construction site near Dehradun Airport, it further said.

“A car took us to a half-constructed building, where he threatened us to give Arushi a parallel lead role in the film. Refusing to bow down to their pressure, we removed her from the film, terminating her involvement. The threats to defame were given to us if we did not meet their demands,” it said, adding that the production house’s lawyers were “taking appropriate legal recourse for the same”.