Has Phantom Gone Bust? Madhu Mantena Decides To Go Solo
The headline grabbing sex scandal was the last nail in the coffin. With Vikas Bahl out of the band of brothers who established Phantom, now Madhu Mantena has decided to opt out
They were once
the favourite mavericks of Bollywood, four filmmakers leading the charge of
different' cinema. Anurag Kashyap, Vikramaditya Motwane, Vikas Bahl and Madhu
Mantena established Phantom films and the awards came rolling in.
Now, it looks
like Phantom may soon be a thing of the past. It all started this week when a
blind item published on the front page of Mumbai Mirror, reported that a
leading filmmaker was forced to exit his production house after a charge of
sexual harassment was levelled against him.
The name of the
Ladies Man that was being floated in the industry was Vikas Bahl. The same
publication then confirmed all the rumours, again on Page 1.
SpotboyE.com then
told you that a blazing row
followed in the offices of Phantom.
And now we can
tell you that the scandal has turned out to be the beginning of the end of
Phantom.
After the huge
fight, it turns out that Madhu Mantena is ready to exit Phantom. Vikas Bahl has
already been given the boot, thanks to the sex scandal.
Interestingly, the rift between Vikas and Anurag started years ago, with creative differences over Bombay Velvet, which was directed by Anurag and produced by Vikas. After that, the two have never seen eye to eye and had several heated exchanges over many issues, including Anurag's ambitions of doing films outside Phantom and dishing out a box-office dud like Raman Raghav 2.0 which created a dent of Rs 6 crore in the balance sheets of Phantom.
Over the years, Anurag, Vikas and Vikramaditya's camaraderie has died and Madhu is often caught in the crossfire. Naturally, the producer is frustrated and wants to leave the camp.
So, that leaves Anurag Kashyap and Vikramaditya Motwane? Will they continue the Phantom banner or has Phantom gone bust?
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