The Bombay High Court refused to grant relief to Bollywood actor Nawazuddin Siddiqui in his suit against Zee Studios seeking payment of his fees for donning the lead role in the film ‘Haddi’.
Justice SM Modak, on Wednesday, found no urgency to pass any order until Zee Studios is granted an opportunity to file a reply to Siddiqui’s claims.
'Haddi' released on OTT platform on September 7, and it stars Siddiqui in the lead role.
According to Siddiqui, he had signed an artist agreement with the movie's producer Anandita Studios and as per the same, he was to be paid Rs 5 crore as fees for acting in the movie. Anandita Studios then entered into an agreement with Zee Studios, by which, Zee became the sole and exclusive owner of all rights over the film.
In August, Siddiqui sent a reminder to Anandita Studios to make a payment of Rs 5.07 crore.
Anandita claimed that out of the total consideration, Rs 4.50 crore was paid. As for the remaining Rs 50 lakh, Rs 25 lakh will be paid when marketing of the film commences and the remaining Rs 25 lakh will be paid once the movie is released.
The company questioned how Siddiqui demanded additional Rs 5.07 crore.
The actor explained that he had blocked 32 additional days for shooting of Haddi over and above what was required under the contract for which he was demanding an additional amount.
As he did not receive any reply, he approached the HC seeking direction to Zee Studios to deposit all amounts as per the agreement.
Zee Studios contended that Rs 4.50 crore was paid to Siddiqui and the payment schedule as regards the remaining amount was informed to him and he had agreed to the same. It denied that an additional amount of over Rs 5 crore was pending.
The HC directed Zee to file its reply and kept the matter for hearing after four weeks.
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