Bollywood star Sunny Deol, who is now a politician, is at the center of a financial scandal when film producer Sorav Gupta accused him of forgery, extortion, and cheating. Now, the actor is the target of a police complaint lodged by the filmmaker.
On April 30, the police sent [Deol] a notice. According to a letter his office sent, he told the publication that he was out of town on the day he was supposed to appear.
Gupta, a former real estate entrepreneur who is now a producer, claimed that in 2016, he agreed to pay INR40 million to Deol as the lead for a project. Gupta claimed in a news conference that the actor had received an advance for the movie but had later backed out without paying the money back.
We paid him INR 10 million in advance, but he chose to make Poster Boys (2017) instead of beginning my movie, Gupta informed Hindustan Times. He demanded money, and I have already deposited INR 25.5 million into Sunny’s account. In addition, he forced me to hire an executive producer, book Filmistaan Studio, and give money to another filmmaker.
Gupta claimed that Deol kept collecting money without putting any effort into his unfinished film. He claimed that after the economic success of Gadar 2 (2023), in which the actor starred, Deol pledged to begin work on Gupta’s project, but he never followed through.
Furthermore, Gupta continued by accusing Deol of unauthorized modifications to the contract with his business in 2023. He said, “We saw that he increased his profit to INR20 million and his fees from INR40 million to INR80 million.”
At the same press conference, filmmaker Suneel Darshan, who is well-known for his roles in the films Janwar (1999) and Andaaz (2003), supported Gupta’s assertions and mentioned that he had experienced the same financial difficulties when collaborating with Deol.
“Sunny Deol only paid a portion of what I was paid when he bought the rights to my 1999 film Ajay for international release,” Darshan claimed. “The remaining payment was never made. Later, Sunny convinced me to give him more money by asking me to collaborate on a project. He said, “Have faith in me, help me out.”
An unnamed insider in the film business added gasoline to the flames by claiming that Deol has a long history of being a “known troublemaker.” According to the source, Deol agreed to sign a deal in the movie Ram Janmbhumi for INR 50 million, prompting a producer to build a sizable set in Mumbai. After delivering a hit film (Gadar 2), “he [Deol] refused to come to the sets and demanded a fee of INR250 million,” the source said.
When contacted for comment, Deol did not respond. When Deol first entered Bollywood in 1983, he was an action star who found fame. However, in the early 2000s, his career began to decline. Nevertheless, Deol has had a comeback since Gadar 2, the highest-grossing movie of his career.
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