Sanjay Gupta files case against producer for alleged harassment and extortion

Sanjay Gupta with Aishwarya Rai Bachchan

Filmmaker Sanjay Gupta has filed a case against producer Vinod Bachchan for alleged harassment and extortion. He has accused Bachchan of sending him a 'fake' legal notice demanding refund of Rs 50 lakh which was his compensation for a project that failed to take off.

Sanjay Gupta with Aishwarya Rai Bachchan

His lawyer Madhu Chaudhary says, "Sanjay has filed a case against Vinod Bachchan for extortion, defamation and cheating. The token amount given by him in April 2014 was Rs 49.5 lakh. A case has been registered with the Versova police."

Sources say Bachchan had approached Sanjay through one Shyam Purohit for a project titled Delhi Ka Thug. "They wanted Sanjay to be the writer-director and cast Abhishek Bachchan, Sonu Sood and Boman Irani. But after he had worked on the script, the two couldn't arrange for finances or lock the cast. Every time he asked to be compensated for his time, he was given false assurances," adds a source. Last December, Bachchan and Purohit informed Sanjay about the project being shelved. But the duo agreed that Sanjay should retain the token amount of Rs 49.5 lakh as he had devoted time developing the script and not taken up other work, say sources.

However, after Sanjay's film 'Jazbaa' - billed as Aishwarya Rai Bachchan's comeback vehicle - started rolling, the producer sent a legal notice to him. He has claimed that though the token amount was paid for another project, it was agreed upon to be used for Jazbaa. Bachchan wants credit as the producer of this film.

Bachchan refused to comment on the issue.