A sessions court in Mumbai has denied anticipatory bail to three film production executives accused of misappropriating more than ₹ 3.92 crore during the making of the upcoming Dharma Productions film Naagzilla .
The three accused are consultant and signing authority Kuldeep Singh Champawat (47), service provider and executive producer Mahipal Karan Rathore (42), and line producer Shivkumar Tiwari (45). Ltd. to produce Naagzilla with a total budget of ₹ 82.50 crore on October 30 last year. The complaint also alleges that the accused inflated a vendor’s bill from ₹ 85,000 to ₹ 1.30 lakh and paid ₹ 45,000 to a firm named ANM Global that rendered no services to the film. In addition, they have also been accused of clearing over ₹ 1.50 lakh in fabricated bills prepared with a production assistant The investigating officer of the case informed the court that the accused extracted commissions and mobile handsets from vendors to award work and clear bills.
Naagzilla stars Kartik Aaryan and is co-produced by Karan Johar’s Dharma Productions and Mahaveer Jain Films. Ltd, which is led by Mahaveer Jain and his wife, Neetu Jain. Mahaveer Jain Films entered into an agreement with Dharma Productions Pvt. Tiwari was hired as the line producer to onboard vendors for vehicles, makeup, and junior artistes. Naagzilla is directed by Mrighdeep Singh Lamba, written by Gautam Mehra and produced by Karan Johar, Mahaveer Jain, Adar Poonawalla, Apoorva Mehta, Mrighdeep Singh Lamba, and Neetu M Jain under Dharma Productions and Mahaveer Jain Films. It is co-produced by Marijke deSouza and Divyansh Jain. Kartik plays an icchadhari naag (shapeshifting snake) in the film. The film is set to release in theatres next year.
The PTI report said that an FIR was lodged by Tukaram Mahadev Sawant, an accountant with Mahaveer Jain Films Pvt. Kuldeep Singh Champawat approached Mahaveer Jain to handle the film’s production and subsequently recommended his relative, Rathore, who was appointed as a service provider, according to the complaint.
