Recently, Ali Abbas Zafar joined the list of people who filed a complaint against the production house, Pooja Entertainment for payments that were due to him following director of 'Mission Raniganj' Tinu Desai who had made a similar compliant few months ago. In retaliation to the complaint, the production house filed a counter claim against director/producer Ali Abbas Zafar and partner Himanshu Mehra who have a very clean track record to malign their image. They've stated that Zafar, along with Mehra and finance head, Ekesh Ranadive, misappropriated the subsidy funds they took from Abu Dhabi authorities during the shoot of the film.

As soon as the news spread, 'Bade Miyan Chote Miyan' crew members took to social media to state that the accusations against Ali Abbas Zafar are false. Khalid, who worked as an actor in 'Bade Miyan Chote Miyan' shared that he, just like many crew members of the film, had to 'beg' Pooja Entertainment for his payment. He said he also spoke to Jackky Bhagnani regarding the payment but after assurances that he will be paid, the actor-producer 'blocked' him.



















'In such a situation, it was only team at AAZ Films who would always answer the calls and reassure that I will be paid. Team at AAZ Films payed us and cleared our dues,' he stated, adding that he wouldn't have spoken about it if false accusations weren't made on Zafar.

Action director Parvez Shaikh wrote, 'The accusation on @AAZFILMS is completely baseless. I have been working with Ali Abbas Zafar since 2014 and have never faced any issues with the payment and they are a people of their word when it comes to business. Finally, after the subsidy money from Abu Dhabi for the film 'Bade Miyan Chote Miyan' was released, my dues were cleared. I'd like to thank the team from AAZ Films and specially Ali Abbas Zafar, Himanshu Mehra, who cleared all my payments and the wages for the hardworking stunt men through Movie Stunt Artist Association.'

He further said that his expensive equipments that were taken to London for the shoot of BMCM are still held by the studio. 'We haven't got any response about when we are going to get them back. We've worked on another project named 'Eagle' with Pooja Entertainment in India and till date, we haven't received payments for worker wagers and equipments,' he concluded.

Film editor Steven Bernard said that his payment was delayed for over 5 months of 'Bade Miyan Chote Miyan' release. 'I had a very urgent and serious family emergency with my father's hospitalization for over 2 months and needed funds. I followed up regularly, but there was no breakthrough. Throughout, AAZ films were supportive and assured me that I would receive my remuneration. Finally, this week after the subsidy from Abu Dhabi was released, thanks to the team from AAZ Films, I received the last installment in full,' he expressed.

As per reports, celebrity choreographer Bosco Martis' due was also paid from Abu Dhabi subsidy. Apart from the above, multiple HOD's and assistants have also posted their experience on 'Bade Miyan Chote Miyan' supporting Ali Abbas Zafar on social media.

Federation of Western India Cine Employees (FWICE) had revealed that filmmaker Vashu Bhagnani owes a huge amount of money to the crew members who worked on their three films - 'Mission Raniganj', 'Ganapath' and 'Bade Miyan Chote Miyan'. The federation said that despite multiple reminders, the production house didn't clear the dues. IFTDA president Ashoke Pandit and FWICE president B.N. Tewari are monitoring the matter closely.

Ashoke Pandit said in an interview, 'The federation is supervising all the payments to the vendors, so that the Abu Dhabi subsidy funds are not misused by any party. The subsidy money is safe with the federation. All I can say is, Pooja Entertainment is liable to pay the money to all the technicians. This also includes Ganapath and Mission Raniganj. We have been following up with Pooja Entertainment for last 8 months for Raniganj and they often promise something, but are yet to release the payments, their intention is not right.' he added.

Yesterday, producer Vashu Bhagnani also accused OTT platform Netflix for non-payment of dues to which Netflix spokesperson has called these claims as unfounded.