10 September,2009 06:52 AM IST | | Sonal Chawla
Bakhtyaar-Tanaaz react when cheques for film bounce. They issue legal notice to producer, who summarily replaces them
Bakhtyaar and Tanaaz Irani have issued a legal notice to the producer of Kisses Love Phillums Dosti even before they could start shooting! They have now been replaced.
The trouble began when the cheques issued to them bounced. Also, the film's shoot in Thailand kept getting delayed. The couple was losing out on reality shows as they had blocked their dates for the film. Due to their reservations, producer Jayesh Vyas decided to replace them with Yash Tonk and Jeneva Talwar.
Explains Vyas, "Our cheques bounced with other actors too, but we immediately gave them cash. But the Iranis sent us nasty SMSes, which said that if the amount wasn't paid in a certain amount of hours, they'd hike their price by Rs 2 lakh every passing hour! This was extremely unprofessional and so, we replaced the duo."
Vyas continues, "Bakhtyaar and Tanaaz sent us a legal notice asking for 50 per cent of the amount before they flew to the location in Bangkok. We had given them a signing amount of Rs 1 lakh each and they demanded to be paid more. Every production unit faces financial crunches. We agreed to pay a part of the amount but the cheque bounced and they sent us a notice."
Says Bakhtyaar, "Our dates were blocked for a month and we kept refusing reality shows. But this movie never went on the floors. We were supposed to fly to Thailand in the last week of August. When my cheque bounced, I asked the associate producer to give me a money order. I can't shoot with people whose cheques bounce. It's a criminal offence."
