Court permits FIR against Ali Abbas Zafar over 'BMCM' controversy
What's the story
A Mumbai court has directed the Bandra Police to file an FIR against filmmaker Ali Abbas Zafar and his associates.
The order comes after producers Vashu Bhagnani and his son Jackky Bhagnani filed a complaint alleging fraud, forgery, criminal breach of trust, cheating, and misappropriation of funds in the making of their film Bade Miyan Chote Miyan (BMCM).
The movie starred Akshay Kumar and Tiger Shroff but tanked at the box office.
Allegations
Charges against Zafar and associates detailed
The Bandra Metropolitan Magistrate Court has directed the local police to file an FIR against Zafar, co-producer Himanshu Mehra, and others.
They have been charged with criminal conspiracy, cheating, forgery for the purpose of cheating, criminal defamation, and criminal intimidation under various sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
The court said the total amount involved in the alleged fraud is huge, spread across several transactions at different places.
Accusations
Bhagnanis accused Zafar of budget inflation and fraud
The Bhagnanis have accused Zafar of being opaque about production costs and ignoring their representatives sent to oversee expenses.
They claim the filmmaker went overboard with the agreed budget by crores.
The complaint mentions that the VFX budget for BMCM was fixed at ₹18cr but shot up to ₹42cr, while the minimum production cost was fixed at ₹125cr, which went to ₹154cr.
The respondents allegedly directly approached vendors, crew, cast, etc., and finalized figures without their consultation/consent.
Agreement details
Bhagnani's initial agreement and subsequent allegations against Zafar
In February 2021, Bhagnani signed four films with Kumar, including the action-comedy Bade Miyan Chote Miyan.
In November 2021, he approached Zafar to direct and write the movie.
Zafar allegedly insisted on working with Mehra and Ekesh Randive as they managed his accounts and audit.
The director and his associates reportedly promised Bhagnani they'd submit all expenses for prior approval but defrauded him by submitting forged documents showing increased incurred expenses.
Notably, the film made less than ₹100cr worldwide.