Will Salil Ankola become the bali ka bakr

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Posted: 18 years ago

Will Salil Ankola become the bali ka bakra?

Cricketer-turned-actor Salil Ankola might yet become one of the early oustees from Bigg Boss, and it will not have anything to do with his fellow contestants on the game show or the viewers.

Acting on a breach of contract petition by Balaji Telefilms, the Bombay High Court on Wednesday passed an injunction restraining Ankola from appearing on any programme other than the ones produced by Balaji. Effectively this means that Ankola will have to stop appearing on Sony's reality show which is produced by Endemol.

"We have not received any notice as yet from the court but if we do we will follow the court's order," said a Sony spokesperson.

Balaji lawyer Ravi Kadam told the court that Ankola had entered into a contract to act for their serial Kasturi. As per the contract, he cannot act in any other production house or channel that makes programmes that directly or indirectly compete with Balaji Telefilms for 12 months from the day the serial was aired for the first time. Ankola had pledged in these twelve months to devote himself solely to Balaji Telefilms. However, while the serial Kasturi was first telecast on August 29 and it was decided that it would be shot over 20 days of every month, Ankola disappeared from the shoot after working in August and September . Balaji alleged that he did so to act for another show — Bigg Boss in October.

TV industry watchers say that this is the next instalment in the ongoing feud between Balaji head honcho Ekta Kapoor and Sony's creative head Sandiip Sikcand who had earlier this year quit Balaji amid much acrimony. This was followed by Ekta Kapoor saying that she would not produce any shows for Sony.

There is a clause in Ankola's contract with Balaji which says that any dispute between the two should be referred to the Arbitration Tribunal. Balaji says they will initiate arbitration proceedinga and as per the arbitrator will be appointed by some auditors. On Wednesday, reading out his order Justice D K Deshmukh said that while the matter was pending before the Arbitration Tribunal Ankola cannot act or endorse, advertise or do voice-overs for any other production house or channel other than Balaji Telefilms.

When contacted Sony officials said, "We have not received the court orders yet. But whatever the orders, we shall abide by them."

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Posted: 18 years ago

'No Boss', HC tells Ankola!

By A Staff Reporter | Thursday, November 09, 2006 10:28:26 IST

Cricketer-actor restrained from acting outside Balaji

The new reality TV show 'Bigg Boss' appears to be on a sticky wicket in its first week itself. Popular cricketer-turned-actor Salil Ankola, one of the stars of the show who require to be kept in the production house's custody at Karjat for three months while the serial unfolds, is likely to be hauled by by the Bombay High Court.
Ankola had entered into a contract with Balaji Films in June for its serial 'Kasturi'. However, he contravened the terms and conditions of the contract by accepting work from other production houses and commercial enterprises. And moreover, after working with Balaji for three months, Ankola stopped appearing on its set. The company has been granted relief by the court which granted an injunction on the actor's working for other production houses.
According to the contract between Ankola and Balaji, the actor was the top act in 'Kasturi' for 20 days a month, earning Rs.18,000 per day. The contract, for a year, was referred to as a positive covenant. It stated that Ankola would be acting exclusively for Balaji Telefilms during the period of the contract which effectively commenced from the first day of the shooting of the first episode. The negative covenant was that Ankola was not to act or make his services available for any channel, production house, advertising agency or entity which may directly or indirectly compete with Balaji's programmes.
Ankola started working with the production house and worked all through August, September and few days in October, but then he stopped coming for shooting. While the serial came on air on September 29, and is running four days a week, there are hardly any reserves with Balaji to fall back on. The production house sent legal notices to Ankola which he did not reply to, forcing Balaji to seek orders from the High Court.
Senior counsel for Balaji, Ravindra Kadam, argued that they could not force the positive covenant but certainly the negative covenant had to be observed by the respondent. Ankola was contravening the same by appearing in the serial 'Bigg Boss' by some other production house, a competitor of Balaji. "He cannot bite the hand that feeds him," said Kadam. Counsel Virendra Tuljapurkar appeared for Ankola.
High Court Justice D. K. Deshmukh, granting injunction pending arbitration, observed that the respondent be restrained from acting, doing commercials, giving voiceovers or indulging in production of any production house which directly or indirectly competing with Balaji.