Last week it had seemed like the production team of Neeraj Pandey’s film Baby starring Akshay Kumar would run into trouble in Nepal which would stall the coming schedules of the film. It was reported last week that the team had allegedly failed to pay dues of Rs 25 lakhs (in Nepali currency) to a Nepali film management company.
As a result, the concerned authorities had seized the shooting material. The police too got involved and both parties were asked to resolve the matter amicably. But things seem to have been sorted now and the team has resumed shooting in Istanbul. “There are no more accusations of non-payment of dues on the team,” informs our source. “The entire unit has now left Nepal and it is business as usual for them at Istanbul. The local authorities in Nepal are in the process of concluding all issues pertaining to payments.” However, they had other troubles to sort out. Due to the confusion, the team missed their flight to Istanbul and thereby suffered delays.
With things being pre-planned, hotels and locations booked, the team apparently suffered losses worth another Rs 50 lakhs. A senior unit member says, “It was a clear case of mismanagement of funds by the local production company in Nepal. We did suffer losses but thankfully, Akshay sir was cool and positive. He has asked us all to forget about the incident and concentrate on the making of the film.” From Istanbul, Akshay and his team will be travelling to Oman and Abu Dhabi and one hopes that they face no more glitches.
