Bade Miyan Chote Miyan action director Parvez Shaikh has come out in support of filmmaker Ali Abbas Zafar after producers Vashu and Jackky Bhagnani accused the movie’s director of criminal conspiracy and misappropriation of funds.
In a recent social media post, Parvez called the allegations against Zafar “completely baseless”, claiming that “the truth is the other way round”.
Parvez came to Zafar’s defence, highlighting that he has never faced payment issues with the filmmaker with whom he has been working since 2014. “They are people of their word when it comes to business,” Parvez wrote in his Instagram story on Thursday.
He also expressed gratitude towards Zafar’s production company AAZ Films for clearing all his dues. “After the Abu Dhabi subsidy for Bade Miyan Chote Miyan was released, my payments were cleared. I’d like to thank AAZ Films, especially Ali Abbas Zafar and Himanshu Mehra, for settling all my payments and the wages of the hardworking stuntmen through the Movie Stunt Artist Association,” Parvez shared.
In addition, Parvez claimed that the expensive equipment his team brought to London for the shoot of Bade Miyan Chote Miyan is still being held by Pooja Entertainment, the production banner owned by Bhagnani. “The expensive equipment we took to London for the shoot is still held in Pooja Films' studio in Luton, and we’ve had no update on when we’ll get it back,” reads his note.
Parvez further mentioned that payments for another project named Eagle have also not been cleared by Pooja Entertainment. "We worked on a project called Eagle with Pooja Entertainment in India, and to date, we haven’t received payments for worker wages or equipment,” the action director concluded.
Earlier, the Bhagnanis reportedly filed a 17-page police complaint, accusing Zafar of “syphoning the subsidy funds” he received from Abu Dhabi authorities during the film's shoot and "hijacking" the Akshay Kumar-Tiger Shroff starrer. The complaint came after Ali Abbas Zafar and Mission Raniganj director Tinu Desai accused them of non-payment of dues and filed a complaint with the Federation of Western India Cine Employees.
Released theatrically on April 10, Bade Miyan Chote Miyan follows special agents Firoz (Akshay Kumar) and Rakesh (Tiger Shroff) as they race to stop Kabir (Prithviraj Sukumaran) from using genetically-engineered soldiers to wreak havoc in India. The film grossed approximately Rs 64.93 crore at the domestic box office.
