Kaajjal, a story of delayed dues?

Kaajjal Sabbki Aankhon Mein Bassi was launched on Sony as a modern day fairy tale in October last year.

Recently, its lead actor Apoorva Agnihotri had voiced his displeasure about accepting Kaajjal.., allegedly saying, "I wouldn't be doing this if I didn't have to run my kitchen." Now, sources on the set, say that he did not attend shooting for three days because his cheque had bounced.

It seems, apart from the actors, even the technicians are not being paid in time. Chetan, who did the background score, and Swapnil Nerurkar, the editor, have quit from the show because the production house owe them huge sums of money.

The show is edited at the state-of-the-art studio Rashika Videotech. It's owner Babboo J Mehra is hoping to get his payment of Rs 30 lakh from the production house soon. None of the names were willing to go on record about the delayed payments.

Twenty Twenty TV, the television arm of K Sera Sera Productions, produces the soap.

Sources say Parag Sanghvi, the managing director of K Sera Sera, is unhappy about financial and production mismanagement. There have also been rumours of Sony handing over the production reins to another company.

Kacon Sethi, CEO of K Sera Sera refutes the fact that Agnihotri did not attend shooting till his payments were cleared: "Yes, we did have a capital gap of two days but Apoorva had no issues with that. He is a thorough gentleman. He has never complained about anything. He is very clear about his work and homefront, he only wants a happy blend of both," she clarifies.

On allegations of mismanagement, Sethi says, "There was no panic situation. It's the nature of our industry, especially with money always in rotation. It's just that we make payments only after the channel pays us. It is a daily show and there are hiccups sometimes.

We will be announcing a few more TV and movie projects soon." On whether the show has failed to click, she says, "No, now that it is a love story again, it's getting a good buzz. The channel has been extremely supportive."

Agnihotri plays the son of a successful businessman who is based in Mumbai. He enacts a character who has had a traumatised past and is bitter about life. Let's hope his association with the show doesn't give him any more grief.

Rati Agnihotri, Surveen Chawla, Chetan Hansraj, Rita Bhaduri, Rohit Bakshi, Manish Choudhary, Indira Krishnna, and Keeshwar also feature in the show.