Mumbai: Case against Boney Kapoor over non-payment of Rs 1 cr bill

WhatsApp chat messages between Boney Kapoor and the vendor

A commercial suit has been filed against renowned Bollywood film producer Boney Kapoor and his team over the non-payment of an outstanding bill of nearly Rs 1 crore with interest to a vendor, who facilitated camera-related equipment for shooting the upcoming flick of Ajay Devgn-starrer Maidaan. The suit, filed by Meherafrin Investments Private Limited at the city civil court in Dindoshi against Kapoor and other co-producers, has sought an injunction of the screening of the football-themed film, which is set to be released on Eid (either April 9 or 10).

When contacted, Kapoor said that it was an arm-twisting tactic to blackmail him when he had already promised to clear the outstanding amount to the vendor. However, the director of Meherafrin Investments Private Limited, Ninad Nayampally, alleged that Kapoor had been making false promises on multiple occasions to delay the clearance of outstanding bills.

Camera-handling equipment provided by the vendor to shoot Maidaan at various locations

"We have been in touch with Boney Kapoor's Bayview Projects LLP, producers of Maidaan since the beginning of the shoot of the film. We have been doing business with them since the start of the shoot of the film. As per our company policy, we raised invoices as per schedule. Even though they cleared the initial invoices, after December 2020 no invoices were cleared. With follow-ups and having conversed with Boney Kapoor-ji himself yet where we shared our concerns. Boney-ji was accommodating and assured us that our dues would be cleared," Nayampally told mid-day.

"Even after being reassured we were left in the dark. Having no route left we took the legal recourse and issued a legal notice to Bayview and its directors with the intention that we would get some clarification on our dues. To our surprise, there was no response to our legal notice. Left with no other option, approaching the court of law was the only solution for our recovery," he added.

"We supplied goods and services for the production of Maidaan. But the producer of the film has publicly acknowledged in media statements that he is indebted to various parties and has been unable to fulfil these financial obligations. The producer had assured us that the outstanding dues would be settled before the release of the film. However, the producer and his partners have ceased all communications with us. Their conduct indicates a clear lack of intention to settle the outstanding dues owed to us," said the vendor's manager Easiah Dhanpal Xavier, who is the complainant in the suit.

Kapoor Speak

When contacted, Kapoor said Rs 63 lakh is the original pending amount to be paid to the vendor. "I have spoken to my team and he [Ninad] has been told that he would be paid before the release of the picture, which is only a month away. Not only he, other vendors also have been promised the same. Everybody knows that the picture was stuck because of COVID," he said.

"I have made 45 films and nobody has been deprived in my company. There is no way that I will avoid any kind of payment. This is nothing but an arm-twisting tactic. I will clear whatever the bill is, excluding interest on the pending amount," he added. The producer stated, "We will reply to whatever is mentioned in the suit in court but he can't seek an injunction before Rs 63 lakh is paid."