If recent developments are an indication, Akshay Kumar and his production house partner Ashvini Yardi have apparently parted ways. The two had teamed up in 2011 to form Grazing Goat Pictures. Speculations about them going separate ways surfaced after Ashvini moved out of Akki's production house office in Juhu recently to another office in Bandra where she floated her own banner, Viniyard (a portmanteau of her first and last names) Productions.
Ashvini met the star when he hosted an earlier season of 'Fear Factor: Khatron Ke Khiladi' on the channel she was heading. She quit the channel to set up a production house with Akki. Says a source, "It could be a business decision, but tongues have been wagging since Ashvini is not seen at Akshay's production office anymore. At one time, she was the go-to person at his office. Her decision to shift out and start her own banner comes as a surprise."
Akshay and Ashvini have produced Bollywood films like 'OMG: Oh My God!' (2012), 'Fugly' (2014) and 'Singh Is Bliing' (2015) besides the Marathi film '72 Miles - Ek Pravas' (2013) and the Punjabi flick 'Bhaji In Problem' (2013). On the TV front, ongoing show 'Jamai Raja' is produced by Grazing Goat.
While Ashvini remained unavailable for comment, a source close to her points out, "Since she has vast experience in the TV industry, she was getting a lot of offers to make TV shows. She decided to float her own banner for small screen productions. When it comes to films, she will still collaborate with Akshay Kumar.
The insider adds: "It is, however, surprising since she and Akshay had decided to collaborate not only for Bollywood, but regional films and TV shows too. The recently launched TV show Janbaaz Sindbad has only Ashvini's name as co-producer along with Sagar Films." Akshay, who is busy with the promotions of his film Airlift, remained unavailable for comment.