HC order will force Ankola out of Bigg Boss
MUMBAI: An interim injunction passed by the Bombay High Court on Wednesday will force cricketer-turned-actor Salil Ankola to quit the reality show Bigg Boss, being aired and produced by Sony.
Ankola had entered into an agreement with Ekta Kapoor's Balaji Telefilms in June to act in its serial Kasturi.
The agreement required him to work solely for Balaji, and not to act in any other serial or programme on any channel or produced by any other production house, "which makes programmes that can compete with the programmes produced by Balaji."
The agreement was to be in force for 12 months from the date of telecast of Kasturi's first episode.
Kasturi went on air towards August end. According to Balaji, Ankola shot for the serial till October and then disappeared.
Sony announced that its reality show will feature Ankola along with other celebrities.
Balaji then approached the High Court. Justice DK Deshmukh on Wednesday passed an order that pending arbitration Ankola shall not "advertise, endorse, do voice-over, or act in any programme" made by the production houses or channels who "directly or indirectly compete" with Balaji's programming.
The dispute as to the breach of the agreement is with the arbitration tribunal. But, as Kadam explained, till the tribunal sorts the matter out, Ankola cannot act in Bigg Boss or in other non-Balaji programme.