'Neerja' producer Atul Kasbekar on Bhanot family's complaint

Sonam in a still from the film; (inset) producer Atul Kasbekar

'Neerja' producer Atul Kasbekar has responded to reports of Pan Am braveheart Neerja Bhanot's family contemplating legal action against him for allegedly not honouring a commitment to share 10 per cent of box office collections.

A statement from Atul's company, Bling Unplugged, reads, "The agreement clearly spelt out that Bhanots would be paid a fixed upfront amount (which was paid as per the timelines) and a variable amount, which was to be computed as a share of net profits that Bling would receive. It was always abundantly clear that we would partner with a studio, in this case, Fox Star India. The Bhanot family was always aware of the same and has, in fact, met the studio reps on many occasions.

All financial transactions post release have been shared with the Bhanot family immediately and in a transparent manner. To reiterate, the amounts due to the Bhanots, as per the existing contract have been repeatedly offered by us to them. To imply anything otherwise, is simply untrue."

Advocate Anusha Nagarajan, who's representing the Bhanots, simply said, "The family's case is that what was offered was not in accordance with the contract. The reasons have been elaborated on in the arbitration notice."