A film distributor from Rajasthan has sought help from police here to recover money that is allegedly owed to him by well-known director and producer Anil Sharma.

Film distributor Sanjay Suchanti came to Mumbai Saturday with police officials from Rajasthan who had an arrest warrant for the "Gadar" director.

Speaking from his office in Oshiwara, Suchanti said he was cheated by Anil Sharma, who had reportedly promised him that he would be given the rights to distribute the film "Ab Tumhare Hawale Watan Sathiyon" in Rajathan.

"Anil Sharma is not man of his words. I have been cheated as the film is now being distributed by another film distributor who must have offered him a higher price," Suchanti said.

"He even took Rs.20 lakh (Rs.2 million) from me for giving me the distribution rights but now he is not even ready to refund my money. Earlier I had sent a legal notice to him, but he did not respond to that.

"Now he is also absconding as the police are looking out for him," said Suchanti.

Sharma, in a telephone interview, confirmed he had taken Rs.2 million from Suchanti, who was to distribute the movie in Rajasthan but there were certain reasons that led him to change distributors.

"Sanjay (Suchanti) had to pay me earlier dues for the film 'Parvana' which was as a guarantee of Rs.300,000 and yet another payment of Rs.150,000 to a film lab," Sharma said.

"I had made these payments on behalf of him and he has to return the money to me. And when I was ready to return his other pending amounts, I got a letter from Santosh Jain of Rajasthan Film Association who asked me to stop the payment.

"Jain warned me that my movie would never be released in Rajasthan. Sanjay had a lot of dues to pay to the association and that's why I had made the payment to the Rajasthan Film Association," Sharma said.