Co-producer of Simran calls Apurva Asrani's accusations a publicity stunt

Mumbai: Just days after writer Apurva Asrani accused Kangana Ranaut of lying about co-writing the plot of ‘Simran’, co-producer of the film, Shailesh Singh, who was also accused in Asrani's Facebook post of persuading Asrani to share credits with Kangana for about 2 months, has reacted to Apurva’s ‘publicity stunt’.

Shailesh Singh, who has worked with Apurva Asrani in two films- Shahid and Aligarh, has hit back at the ace writer saying that his accusations sound like attention-seeking. “He seems to be doing this for publicity. If this is about him versus Kangana, I want to clarify that to please an actress; I’d have paid her more. Why be unfair to him? Once the film hits screens, we will release the script online for the world to judge,” he said to a daily.

Singh also said that Asrani has a signed legal document with him which proves that he had given his consent. “I have worked with Apurva on two of his biggest films — Shahid and Aligarh. Apurva has a legal document in his possession signed by all parties — Kangana, Hansal, the producers and himself wherein he agrees to the credits given by us,” the producer said.

When asked about Kangana getting the co-writer credit ahead of Asrani, who has supposedly written the entire script over a period of 1 year, with extensive research in the US, a diplomatic Shailesh said it was a mere ‘error’. “I have conveyed this(that it was an error) to Apurva. We could have chatted in person before he took the issue to social media.”

For the uninitiated, Apurva Asrani took the Facebook route on Wednesday to share his disagreement on Kangana being credited as the co-writer of 'Simran.'

He also wrote that how he is disappointed with the fact that Kangana has been claiming in her interviews that Hansal Mehta approached her with a one-line screenplay of the film, and further went on to claim that the film was a gritty thriller then and it's she who converted it into a light-hearted film.

Talking about Ranaut’s claims, he said in his post: Ms Ranaut has been claiming in several interviews that Hansal Mehta, the director of Simran, approached her with just a one line screenplay of the film. She says that they story was dark & gritty thriller at that stage and that she herself developed it into a light, fun film. This completely discredits me and my efforts, and I have to call out this lie at the cost of so many of her fans turning against me. Those that know me will know that I have always strived for the truth, and that is more important to me than a hit film… It was only the day after I finished the first cut of the film that Hansal called me to meet. He informed me nervously that Kangana is turning director and therefore has demanded a co writer credit. I naturally had a shit fit and feeling shocked and betrayed, I refused to give in. For 2 months, he and his co producer Shailesh tried to arm twist me into giving her a co writer credit. The details of which I will reserve for the future. I finally gave into an additional writing credit, but only because they claimed their film would be stuck if I didn't do so. But I refused to give her a co writer credit, and we signed a letter where they promised me the same.

The film is slated to release on September 15.

Here is Asrani's full Facbook post: