Some hard earned ‘Cash’
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Anubhav Sinha may have come out of the “Cash” controversy, but it reveals the way our film industry works. RANA SIDDIQUI
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OUT OF THE MESS Anubhav Sinha’s “Cash” turned out to be the toughest film to make.
This is an account of a comic book thriller almost turning into a tragic tale. Director Anubhav Sinha’s “Cash”, starring Ajay Devgan, Suniel Shetty, Zayed Khan, Reitesh Deshmukh, Diya Mirza, Esha Deol and Shamita Shetty, releasing s
hortly, may not have made many heads turn in the run-to the release but over the past few days it has aroused curiosity. Thanks a public mudslinging by its producer, and the attendant limelight over its name.
The film’s producers Sohail Makhani and Aneesh Ranjan and director Sinha, after washing their dirty linen in public, went to the Mumbai High Court pointing fingers at each other over financial irregularities and credits. If on one side Anubhav is refraining from slinging mud at Sohail, Aneesh is leaving no stone unturned in doing just the opposite.
The film is described as the true story of a 200-carat diamond stolen from a bank and divided among three robbers in the 19th Century. “Six characters are after the diamond in the film,” says Sinha. Shot entirely in Cape Town, South Africa, with Government support, backing from the film industry there and local actors, the film overshot the budget and hence, the South African Government seized the film’s negative. Sinha got it back only when the money was handed over to the Government. But then, it is not as easy as it sounds.
“Ninety per cent films get stuck in foreign countries, so why is ‘Cash’ being blown out of proportion?” asks Sinha, adding quickly that he wouldn’t like to “meddle in the tussle between the two producers” because both of them have been supporting his film. But he feebly complains, “Sohail doesn’t believe in law or the system or papers. He is not above the law, and if he had understood it, we wouldn’t have landed in a mess.”
That Bond!
There are three kinds of bonds: Completion Bond, Pre-Sale Bond and Bank Agreement Bond that a filmmaker has to sign before starting to shoot in a foreign country. According to the Completion Bond, if a film goes beyond the budget, the Government of that country provides the required funds to complete the film. This amount has to be cleared by the seeker of the funds before leaving the country, else the negatives of the films are seized. “The total budget of the film was 12.5 crores. So a cash flow of 7.5 crores was to be facilitated through three kinds of papers. We sent it to Sohail looking after the production in Africa. But later it again increased and Sohail said he spent 10.6 crore instead of 7.5 and asked us to send the amount. But on one side he was borrowing money and the other, he wasn’t ready on their terms and conditions. So he left the country without taking the film’s negatives back home.”
Sinha continues, “When the film had reached 18 crores, he called me to say that the film had crossed the budget limit. But assured me he had spoken to the distributors to sell it for Rs.22 crore.” He finally ended up making the film in 21 crores and borrowed money from S.A government through the completion bond.
“It was very difficult to raise funds from India and then send here. Sinha tried to raise money through Manmohan Shetty, Managing Director, Adlabs Films Limited. He decided to watch the film before giving the money. After he agreed to distribute the film, we signed an MoU with Adlabs,” says Sinha. Adds Aneesh, “I also spoke to Infinity Films and finally it gave us the required money to get our negatives back and also pay our bills there. Sohail, despite being the producer, didn’t raise any sponsorship. So, on behalf of Infinity, I terminated my contract with Sohail. Sohail went to the High Court to stop the release of the film. He even filed a petition saying his name doesn’t appear in the credits as per the agreement (Clause 9) earlier.” He adds that after coming out of the Mumbai High Court, “The judge reprimanded Sohail. Sohail’s name is there in the credits. He kept arguing on the rank of the credit with the judge. The judge said the director of the film would decide the ranking as he is the captain of the ship. He also asked him to withdraw the petition and settle the matter out of court.” Now the film is being produced by Seven Entertainment Limited, designed by Infinity and distributed by Adlabs. Sohail did not take calls from the press.
Stylised film
Though the making of the film has left a bitter taste with Sinha and Aneesh, its release may bring back the smiles. “It’s a highly stylised film – the only one in this genre so far. It has the proverbial willing suspension of disbelief stuff. It’s a comic book thriller with lots of animation knitted between the scenes. For instance, when Suniel Shetty speaks about his past, the flashback is done in animation. Kids would love it,” says Aneesh. Adds Sinha, “There is a lot of action that is new to Hindi films, like a skate board on which the rider lies down and slides on the road and so on. I am not cheating the audience by shooting a promotional video of the song ‘Naughty Naughty’. The song is part of the film.”
Time will tell if “Cash” will set cash registers ringing whenever it is released, but Sinha is already onto his next venture. He will shoot his first animation film on “a cool teenage action hero called “Shlok” and produce a film in which Sunny Deol plays a serial killer. Ready to bet your hard earned cash on the quality of that?
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