Days after it was reported that Vashu Bhagnani and Jackky Bhagnani-owned Pooja Entertainment has sold their Mumbai office to clear off Rs 250 crore debt amid growing financial hassles, the producer has issued an official clarification to address the claims.
For those unversed, the production house was accused of non-payment of dues, laying off 80 per cent of its staff and cutting down it's operations after the box office failure of their latest film Bade Miyan Chote Miyan, starring Akshay Kumar, Sonakshi Sinha and Tiger Shroff.
In a statement, Vashu Bhagnani said, "The building (office space) that people are talking about hasn’t been sold to anyone, it belongs to me even now. We are only redeveloping it into a tower that will house luxury homes. This was planned 1.5 years ago. I was waiting for Bade Miyan Chote Miyan to release after which we wanted to start the redevelopment."
Further dismissing reports of laying off his staff, Vashu Bhagnani shared, "We’ve had the same team working with us for 10 years, we haven’t asked anyone to leave."
The producer added, "I have been in the business for the past 30 years. If there are people who claim that we owe them money, they should come forward and talk to us. Do they have proper contracts with Pooja Entertainment? Have they filed a case regarding this? There are so many ways to sort this rather than ranting on social media. If there is an issue, we will resolve it. Nobody is running away. Please come to my office, talk to us, give us your documents, and give us 60 days to figure things out. I am not going to buckle under any pressure or blackmail. We also work with production companies in the UK. If they owe someone money, then people should reach out to them directly."
Pooja Entertainment's recent films like Bade Miyan Chote Miyan, Mission Raniganj, Ganapath and Bell Bottom drastically failed at the box office. However, the producer believes that hits and flops are part of this business.
It may be mentioned that a social media user, Ruchita Kamble, who reportedly worked on one of the films of Pooja Entertainment, took to social media and shared a long post, in which she revealed that her dues have not been cleared by the production house.
