Ekta-Abhishek fallout over Katrina-SSR starrer

Ekta-Abhishek fallout over Great Expectations

Hiren Kotwani

Cousins Ekta Kapoor and Abhishek Kapoor, who were to collaborate on the Bollywood adaptation of Charles Dickens' classic Great Expectations, have had a fallout. Talk in the trade circuit is that due to disagreements over budget and profit-sharing, Ekta will not be producing Fitoor, Abhishek's next directorial venture featuring Sushant Singh Rajput and Katrina Kaif.
It is indicated that Ekta felt that the cost of production that Abhishek had quoted was high. What's more, he had reportedly asked for an additional 10-15% during the production stage as it's a period subject and some costs could escalate while filming. "Also, Gattu (as Abhishek is called by family and friends) asked Ekta for an equal share in the profit," says our source, adding that the producer suggested that they rope in another production partner. However, the director declined the idea as that would decrease their share of profit. "Bringing in a third party in the venture would automatically see their profit go down as another producer would demand his share, which would have to be compensated from Ekta's and Abhishek's share," says our source.
Last heard, Ekta had let Abhishek approach another corporate to back his 'great expectations'.
Incidentally, it was after six years since he turned director and had two hits (Rock On and Kai Po Che) in his kitty, that Abhishek was teaming up with producer-cousin Ekta. Last year, Bombay Times had reported about the cousins collaborating for an intense love story.
While Abhishek didn't respond to our messages, Ekta replied saying, "Gattu's my brother! We will work together some other time. I wish him all the best. But as a company we have to take some hard decisions. We hope we get to collaborate in the future."
Source