OMG! Prernaa Arora sells the same film, Kedarnath to three companies without any knowledge of Producer-Director

Barely a few days after the announcement that Ronnie Screwvala’s production house RSVP had taken over Kedarnath and was producing it with the director Abhishek (Gattu) Kapoor’s production house, Guy In The Sky, comes another revelation that has the makers completely stunned. Three companies, Gothic Entertainment, Vashu Bhagnani’s Pooja Entertainment And Films Limited and Kolkata-based Padma Ispat Private Limited, have sent legal documents which they had signed with producer, Prernaa Arora, who was earlier producing Kedarnath.

Says a source, “Months after shooting for Abhishek Kapoor’s Kedarnath came to a halt, the film was ready to start its second schedule – till the makers got a rude shock! Ronnie Screwvala has facilitated smooth sailing for the troubled project by taking over the reins and compensating former producers Prernaa Arora, Bhushan Kumar and Ekta Kapoor. Ronnie has paid Prernaa and Bhushan (since it is one contract, all money was invested by Bhushan) Rs 14 crores and Ekta Rs 8 crores.

Five days after the announcement of Ronnie’s take over happened, RSVP and Guy in the Sky received a copy of legal papers (agreement between Prernaa and Vashu) from Pooja Films (Vashu Bhagnani). Papers showed that Prernaa Arora had sold Indian Theatrical Rights of her entire slate including Kedarnath (which didn’t belong to her) to Vashu Bhagnani.”

That wasn’t all. The source adds, “While the makers were trying to come to terms with this new legal development, within days they have been approached by two more companies, Gothic Entertainment, and Kolkata-based Padma Ispat Private Limited, saying they have been sold Indian theatrical rights of Kedarnath by Prernaa again. Neither of the other parties who had invested money in the film, i.e. Ekta, Bhushan, Abhishek, and Ronnie were aware of these agreements. In fact, Bhushan was in touch with Ronnie and Abhishek for music rights. This has come as a huge blow to the team of the film. This knowledge was not with Ronnie or Gattu? Neither did Ronnie or Gattu know about it. Yesterday morning, Ispat sent the papers saying that the Indian theatrical rights of Kedarnath, with legal paperwork, are with them. She has sold it to three places and then signed an agreement with Bhushan, Ronnie and Gattu saying all rights belong to them. Ronnie is waiting for more people to reach out to him. He won’t be surprised if the rights have been sold to many others. A furious Gattu has filed an NC at Khar Police Station as a precaution.”

Abhishek Kapoor says, “It's shocking to know that there are people in the business who think it’s OK to sell assets that do not belong to them or have not been authorised to sell. Beyond that, I am amazed to learn that there are people who give money to the likes of these without doing any kind of due diligence or checking paperwork."