Kedarnath starring late Sushant Singh Rajput and debutant Sara Ali Khan turned out to be a huge blockbuster at the box office. But not many remember how the film was dragged into a legal battle after its maker Abhishek Kapoor sent a legal notice to Sara demanding damages worth Rs. 5 crore. It had taken Saif Ali Khan’s personal intervention that the matter was amicably resolved.
What had appeared to irk Kapoor was Sara’s decision to sign Simmba with Karan Johar while she was still shooting for Kedarnath. The matter turned extremely ugly after Kapoor approached the Bombay High Court claiming damages worth Rs 5 crore for allegedly not honouring the terms of her contract. The case was filed by Guy In The Sky Productions Pvt Ltd (company owned by Kapoor).
His plea was heard by a vacation bench of Justice S J Kathawalla and the court even posted the matter for further hearing.
Kapoor had alleged that Sara earlier gave a nod to be available on all the dates throughout the shoot for Kedarnath. But when the makers informed her that the shooting of Kedarnath will go from May till early July, Sara’s agent reportedly said that she wouldn’t be available in June due to her shooting commitment Simmba also starring Ranveer Singh.
Sara and her father Saif Ali Khan had then visited Kapoor’s office in a bid to resolve the issue. People familiar with this matter had said that Sara could not reject the offer of a lead role when Karan Johar decided to cast her in a lead role Simmba since there was complete uncertainty surrounding Kedarnath because of separate legal battles between Kapoor and Prerna Aroraa of KriArj Entertainment.
This was Sushant’s second film with Kapoor after he made his debut from Kai Po Che also directed by Abhishek Kapoor.
Sushant had reportedly urged Kapoor to provide equal screen space to Saif Ali Khan’s daughter in her debut film. “Sushant recently watched the rushes of Kedarnath and felt that both the lead actors should get equal prominence. He feels responsible for Sara since he is her first co-actor. He even had a chat with Abhishek, insisting that Sara get as much screen time as him. Sushant wants the movie to establish her as a solid performer,” a source close to Sushant was quoted by Mid-Day.
Sushant’s body was found hanging inside his house on Sunday morning. The 34-year-old actor from Bihar had made his Bollywood debut with Kai Po Che before acting in successful films such as MS Dhoni: The Untold Story, PK, Raabta and Kedarnath among others.