EXPLOSIVE: Siddharth Sharma BLASTS makers of Soorya for non-payment of dues: “Producer told me, ‘Main toh pay nahin karunga. Tujhe jo karna hai, tu kar’; they are RUINING Sunny Deol sir’s name…they made me shoot an ad for Manyavar WITHOUT my consent, knowledge”
In a shocking development, actor Siddharth Sharma posted on his Instagram handle that he has dissociated himself from the Sunny Deol-starrer Soorya. The caption of the post mentioned that he has initiated legal proceedings against the makers of the film. Bollywood Hungama exclusively spoke to Siddharth Sharma to understand what went wrong. He began by saying, “This has happened for the first time in my career of 7-8 years. I have worked with T-Series for almost 5 years with Balaji. But I never faced something of this sort.”Siddharth then explained, “When I was working on the reality show ‘Lock Upp’, the producers of Soorya approached Kangana Ranaut in order to reach out to me as they wanted me to sign their film. They also got my number through Vinay Sapru sir and Radhika Rao ma’am, who gave me my biggest hit to date, ‘Leja Re’. It has 1 billion views on T-Series’ YouTube channel. Both worked with the producer (Kamal Mukut) on Sanam Teri Kasam (2016). The makers took their reference as well and they got my number from them.”Siddharth Sharma said, “At first, I didn’t entertain them. But my brother called me when I was inside. He told me that these producers have signed Sunny Deol and are looking for a younger actor for an important role. This is how the film was pitched to me, that it’s a Sunny Deol starrer. This was the time when I had already worked on Season 2 of Punch Beat. I signed an agreement with them and we began shooting the film in Jaipur. This was 2022.” View this post on Instagram A post shared by @siddharthhsharmaa He continued, “The first schedule got over. It was not great, but it was overall fine. We had a contract in place which stated that I’ll get a signing amount and 20% of my remaining fees after 50% of the shoot is complete. The film got postponed. They kept on asking for dates and after taking my dates, they also kept on cancelling the shoot schedule. Those were the days when they didn’t have a lot of money. So, I didn’t put a lot of pressure on the producer. But after the success of Gadar 2 and Sanam Teri Kasam’s re-release, they had money. They also had the power and I guess they felt that it was okay to not adhere to my contract and not pay me.”He added, “Woh log bahut pyaar se baat karte the, ‘Beta, shoot kar le. After 3 years, we are finally resuming the shoot. Sunny Deol has finally agreed to shoot’. This is how they convinced me to shoot.”Siddharth Sharma said, “I pointed out that the contract was signed way back in 2022 and asked for a fresh contract. Also, Sunny sir and others were getting hiked fees. Hence, even I asked for a raise. They refused. I said, ‘Fair enough. But please pay me my remaining dues’. I had to cancel dates for another film I was committed to in order to shoot Soorya. This is because I have a certain look in the film. This is how I gave the film everything. Finally, when I asked for my rightful dues, they refused, citing ‘Abhi paise nahin hai’ or ‘we haven’t started clearing the payments’. I still kept asking them. One day, he threatened me on call, ‘Main toh pay nahin karunga. Tujhe jo karna hai, tu kar le. Tu apne aap ko bada hero samajta hai. Toh ban le hero’. This was wrong as I was always talking to them humbly.”He stated, “As per the contract, I have committed to do the dubbing and promotions. But I won’t be indulging in these activities until they don’t pay me my rightful dues. Also, they also cheated on a theatrical ad which they shot for Manyavar.”When asked for details, he replied, “They said that it’s a part of a film and it’s a scene. But I had the bound script with me and that scene wasn’t a part of it. They claimed, ‘We have added it later creatively’. But they shot an ad with me without even my consent or knowledge. This is cheating. It’s only later that Manyavar told me that they wanted to do some promotional exercise with me since I had a shot an ad for their brand. I told them, ‘Which ad? I didn’t shoot any ad with Manyavar’. This is when I learned the truth. The ad features me, Sunny Sir and Virti Vaghani. The latter has worked before in Aarya, where she played Sushmita Sen’s daughter.”With no other option, Siddharth Sharma was forced to take the legal recourse, “I sent them a legal notice, but they didn’t respond. This is when I posted about it on my Instagram handle.”Despite the bad experience, he said, “The film is fantastic. The songs are also very nice. They have changed the film quite a bit. It is no longer the same script that I signed for. But I am okay with it as it’s a creative call and if it benefits the film. But at least, pay me my dues and stick to the legal agreement. Otherwise, what’s the point of doing an agreement? While signing off, the young actor remarked, “They are ruining the name of Sunny Deol sir. They pitch the film using his name, saying that ‘Woh hamare hero hai; hamare saath kaam kar rahe hai’. They further added that they have been in the business since the 1970s and that they have worked with stalwarts like Rishi Kapoor as well in the past. Hence, you feel you’ll be in safe hands. But alas.”We tried contacting producer Kamal Mukut, but he was unavailable for comment. Also Read: Sunny Deol announces new film Ikka, unveils first look motion poster.
