Makers of Neerja refute Bhanot family claims; state profit share was offered but family declined to accept

Earlier today reports surfaced that claimed the Bhanot family of the slain brave heart Neerja Bhanot were not happy with the makers of the film that was based on their daughter. In fact the family claimed that the producers of the film titled Neerja, had not honoured their commitment to share the profits of the film with the Neerja Bhanot Foundation and them.

However, reacting to the same, the makers of the film which was coproduced by Fox Star Studios and Atul Kasbekar’s Bling Unplugged released a statement denying the family’s claims saying, “At the outset, again, we'd like to say that we are immensely grateful that the Bhanot family trusted us with making a movie on the life of braveheart, Neerja Bhanot. We started the exercise of making a difficult film with utmost honesty and the effusive acclaim the film has received is testament to the fact that we succeeded in our endeavour. The facts of the case are simply thus: Bling had acquired the rights to make Neerja from the Bhanot family. The agreement between Bhanots and Bling clearly spelt out that Bhanots would be paid a fixed upfront amount (which was paid as per the timelines) and a variable amount, which was to be computed as a share of net profits that Bling would receive.”

Further talking about the alliance with Fox Star Studios the statement went on to add, “It was always abundantly clear that we would partner with a studio, in this case FoxStar India. The Bhanot family was always aware of the same and have in fact met the studio reps on many occasions.  To imply otherwise is simply untrue. Integrity is a very important aspect of Bling's values and Bling is committed to meeting all its contractual commitments. All financial transactions post release have been shared with the Bhanot family immediately and in a transparent manner. Their share of the profits, which is a share of ours, has been immediately offered. They have declined to accept the same and now wish to get a share of the studio profits. This is effectively a retrospective negotiation and not as per what is signed by them years ago. It is unfortunate that despite having a clear contractual arrangement the Bhanots have decided to dispute the financial understanding at this belated stage.”

Concluding the same, and reiterating the facts the release by Bling Unplugged stated, “To reiterate, the amounts due to the Bhanots, as per the existing contract have been repeatedly offered by us to them. To imply anything otherwise, is simply untrue.”

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