No pay-cut, Akshay taking full Rs. 117cr for 'Bell Bottom'
Akshay Kumar is not taking anything less than his full fee of Rs. 117 crore for Bell Bottom, and he clarified the same on social media. "What waking up to FAKE scoops feels like," Kumar wrote on Twitter. This happened after an entertainment website reported that he will be reducing his fee by a whopping Rs. 30 crore, on behest of producer Vashu Bhagnani.
'What waking up to FAKE Scoops feels like!'
'Delay wasn't accounted for, resulted in spike in budget'
"Bell Bottom was supposed to release in April, however, due to second COVID-19 wave, the release has been deferred," said a source. "The delay was not accounted for and also resulted in a spike in the budget of Bell Bottom. Being primarily a film that caters to the Tier 1 and 2 cities, Vashu Bhagnani wanted to keep the budget in check," they added.
Kumar had 'graciously agreed' to cut his fee, or not?
"Hence, he requested his leading man, Akshay to scale down his acting fees by Rs. 30 crore, as the rise in budget aside, there looms a lot of uncertainty on the release too," the trade source told the portal. And, Kumar apparently had "graciously agreed."
'Bell Bottom' release is on hold indefinitely
Guess with the Jaanwar actor's confirmation, this scoop holds no water now. Not just Kumar, even Bhagnani denied these claims of the portal on Twitter. Tracing back, the film's release has been put on hold indefinitely, after theaters got shut due to COVID-19 second wave. Given this situation, there were also rumors that Bell Bottom, co-produced by Nikkhil Advani, will get a direct-to-digital release.
Film will be an espionage thriller; Kumar plays special agent
While Advani had confirmed that it was a possibility, Bhagnani had denied any such plans. The film is said to be an espionage thriller based on the hijacking of planes in the early 1980s that shook India. It also stars Vaani Kapoor, Lara Dutta, and Huma Qureshi, along with Kumar in pivotal roles. The much-awaited flick has been directed by Ranjit M Tewari.
Became first film to start and finish amid the pandemic
The film achieved the rare feat of becoming the first project that started and finished during the pandemic. The shooting wrapped up by September last year. Kumar had said, "I hope this encourages film industries globally to do what they do best and start entertaining audiences again. I hope our shoot during the pandemic reassures others that it's time to get things moving again."
For now, Kumar has many movies in the pipeline
Apart from Bell Bottom, the release of Rohit Shetty's Sooryavanshi, co-starring Katrina Kaif, has also been put on hold indefinitely. He will also be seen in two of Aanand L Rai's ventures Atrangi Re and Raksha Bandhan. Bhumi Pednekar recently joined the cast of the latter. He's also working on Bachchan Pandey with Kriti Sanon. Kumar was last seen in Laxmii that released digitally.
