Photo:masala

Ali Fazal is miffed that the Prakash Raj directorial, which also features Taapsee Pannu, is being promoted even though its cast and crew are yet to be paid in full.

On August 1, Zee Music Company launched the song, 'Khainch Le Qashh', from Prakash Raj’s first Hindi film as a director, 'Tadka'. Ali Fazal, Taapsee Pannu and Shriya Saran—the film’s lead actors—and its music team were tagged in the post. Soon after, Ali responded, stating, “There’s a court case on the producers of this film as far as I remember. Cheques had bounced. Actors and crew still haven’t gotten paid. Surprised to see a promotional song coming out from the film.”

When Mirror reached out to the 32-year-old actor, who was on his way to Canada, sounded upset. “An entire crew, including my staff, is yet to be paid. When we (the cast) were called to shoot the last portion, we made it clear to the producers that we would do so only after our dues were cleared. But they requested us to shoot, promising to pay later. I was working on another project at the time and had to leave it for three-four days for this film. I got a cheque a day after we shot, but it bounced. Since then I have got several WhatsApp messages from my producer Jatish Varma, promising me that he will pay up but it has yet to happen. My tweet was not against Zee but against these guys who made the film,” Ali ranted.

The film, which also features Nana Patekar, has been produced by Jatish Varma, Sameer Dixit, and Zee Studios. When Mirror reached out to producer Jatish, he said, “The film’s release date is yet to be finalised. Only the last payment, which is made after the promotions, remains. The rest has been cleared on time for every member associated with the film.”

When asked why Zee Music Company had released the song, Jatish said, “This song was released without our permission. We share a great relationship with Anurag Bedi, the head of Zee Music Company, who is keen to release our film’s music even if Zee Studios disassociates itself with the project as he has invested time and energy in it. We want to go ahead with Zee Music as well, but we cannot sign a deal as of now as there is an ongoing legal battle between Prakash Raj and Zee Studios (over the film).”

When asked if he’ll promote the film, Ali said, “My heart is not in this film now. Taapsee is a friend and I can speak for her. I don’t think either of us would be interested in promoting it.”