Posted:
| Take it or Leave it - Akshay Kumar By Vickey Lalwani, 26 February, 2009 |
 Rajiv Rai, who is known for his blockbusters, Tridev, Gupt and Mohra, had been missing in action since his last film Asambhav in 2004. But recently he decided to comeback with a bang, by planning an action thriller with friend Akshay Kumar. Now, unfortunately, his film has been put on the backburner. Akshay's whopping demand of Rs 45 crore for the film put the spoke in the wheel.A source close to the production house said, "Rajiv Rai had relocated from Los Angeles to Mumbai. He was producing and directing an action thriller with his friend Akshay Kumar, whom he had directed in the blockbuster Mohra (1994)." Rajiv had even registered three film titles - Do or Die, To Do or Die and Heat, and was in talks with Akshay, who had given his nod to the film. The source elaborated, "However, when Rajiv and Akshay met to discuss the details, on the sets of Kambakkht Ishq in Los Angeles, the price issue came up. Apart from asking his fee, Akshay Kumar also asked Rajiv for a percentage of the profit and a few other rights related to the film. This amount came up to almost Rs 45 crore." Rajiv was flabbergasted when Akshay quoted his price. But that was not the only reason why he got discouraged from making the film. The source added, "Given Rajiv's stylised filmmaking, this action thriller's budget shot up to Rs 85-90 crore, which Rajiv knew was an impossible amount to recover." Despite repeated calls and text messages, Akshay did not respond. However, his publicist sent us a text message, "This is not true." However, Shabbir Boxwalla, who was supposed to co-produce Rai's film confirmed the news and said, "We did not agree over the pricing with Akshay." As of now, we hear, Rajiv has his hopes pinned on making a period film in English, co-scripted by a Hollywood writer, with Aamir Khan. |
CID
Kabhi Neem Neem Kabhi Shahad Shahad
Fan Fictions
4