Troubles continue for Vikram Bhatt, who, along with his wife Shwetambari, was granted interim bail, subject to bail bonds, on February 13 in a R30 crore fraud case. Days after casting director Parag Chadha called out Bhatt for alleged non-payment of dues on the 2023 film, 1920: Horrors of the Heart, more voices have come to the fore.
A crew member, on the condition of anonymity, told mid-day, “Rs 20 lakh was the amount agreed upon as my fee. Not a single penny was paid, neither to my assistants nor to me.”
Sneh Sharma is awaiting payment of Rs 1 lakh. Another crew member alleged the makers owe them Rs 20 lakh
Make-up artiste Sneh Sharma, who worked on the Avika Gor-starrer, claimed she chased the production for months to get her dues. To date, one lakh of her total payment is pending. She recalled, “We kept following with the accountants, executive producers, Vikram Bhatt’s team, but none of them would give an answer. They paid us initially, but during the second schedule, we were told there were no funds. Yet, they went on to shoot another film!”
Sharma had to take the help of a cine workers’ association to get a part of her rightful pay. Chadha admittedly had it much worse. The casting director lamented, “I wasn’t paid even a per cent of my casting fees. I worked on the film with my team of six people, and I had to pay them.”
