Rajpal Yadav, who is currently enjoying the box office returns of his latest release ‘Bhooth Bangla’, recently addressed long-standing public assumptions about the check bounce issue that led to his imprisonment.
The controversy dates back to 2010, when Rajpal borrowed Rs 5 crore to fund the ‘Ata Pata Laapata’ project. The film was released in 2012, was a box office hit, and the loan remained unsettled, leading to a lawsuit. Reflecting on the same in a recent interview, Rajpal Yadav claimed that he did not go to jail because he was not able to pay Rs 5 crore; The issue was bigger than just money. Hence he is determined to fight the case all his life and never settle.
He added that the entire case had cost him a loss of Rs 22 crore.
Rajpal Yadav addresses the issue of bounced checks
During his conversation with Shubhankar Mishra, Rajpal was asked why he did not repay Rs 5 crore, despite having money and work at that time. The ‘Bhool Bhulaiyaan’ actor explained, “This is exactly the point of my case, it’s not about not being able to pay Rs 5 crore. It’s too early to talk about why I’m going to jail or whether I have the money or not.”The actor also explained how it’s not just about the money; It would have been over long ago.
“If the matter had been just Rs 5 crore, it would have been resolved in 2012 itself, but because of this Rs 5 crore, I incurred losses of Rs 17 crore. At that time, it was not in court, when the person had jeopardized the value of my film of Rs 17 crore. After this person watched 70 per cent of the film, he invested another Rs 5 crore,” he said.
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Rajpal Yadav’s claim for incurrence Loss of Rs 22 crore And his determination to never settle
While detailing the issue further, the actor mentioned how the entire scenario led to his loss of Rs 22 crore.
He quoted, “Rs 5-7 crore was to be spent on the release of the film, and the total production budget of the film was Rs 22 crore. Even if you were an enemy, you would not stop the project from releasing, especially when 10 others had also invested money in this. We were talking about the intention behind giving this Rs 5 crore.”
My intention was good. What is my mistake?The film was a brief success at the box office, and did not reach 200 screens, resulting in a significant loss.
Moreover, the press conference conducted by the said lender added to the problems.“The film, which was supposed to be released on more than 1,000 screens, had Amitabh Bachchan opening his music album, but he was not even allowed to go on for three days. He lost Rs 22 crore just by holding a press conference; his intention was bad, which cost me Rs 22 crore,” Rajpal Yadav said before adding, “Since the last 10 years, I have been saying the same thing.”
200 artistes, including Dara Singhji, participated in the film, but he made it an issue as if I owed him Rs 50 crore and ran away with it.
When he already had post-dated checks, why would he bring a stop-release order for the film? Shortly after the Supreme Court rejected the order to stop them, this party went and held an accusatory press conference. Because of this, the film could not release in 200 screens either.The actor added that with the right intention in the heart, he will never back down, never settle. “I will continue to fight with him all my life over this intention; I will not accept a settlement,” Rajpal said.
Rajpal Yadav expressed his gratitude to the industry
In these difficult times, the one thing that has melted Rajpal Yadav’s heart is the unparalleled support extended by the film industry. Speaking about it, he said, “There was no one from the film industry who did not stand by me. There are two types of help, one where others come to know about it, and the other is done in secret, the way Sonu Sood took a stand for me…”He added that there was never a time when there was no work. “I have directed 250 films in 25 years,” he said. Expressing his gratitude, he noted that the industry has always been supportive of him.
