Producer of Ajay Devgn's film Benaam in legal trouble

1 Jul 2013

Dinesh Patel, the man who launched Ajay Devgn in Phool Aur Kaante is in a controversy of sorts now. Since he defaulted on his payment to film financier (of the unreleased Benaam starring Ajay Devgn and Sameera Reddy) Vandana Jain, who allegedly claims that Dinesh owes her no less than Rs 1 crore, resulting in his wife Snigdha landing up in Bengaluru Central Jail. Reports have it that Vandana, who had flown to Mumbai with Bengaluru Police, got Snigdha arrested from her Santacruz residence. Strange as it may sound that, instead of Dinesh, it Snigdha who got arrested, because Jain had issued the loan in her name.

Talking about the incident, Jain said that Dinesh had approached her in the year 2006, to financially help him to finish the remaining portions of the said film (which was then around 85% complete) with the promise that he will return the amount within 3 months. While she apparently issued him cheque of Rs. 59 lakh, the remaining amount she paid in cash. Despite its decided release in 2006, the film was still lying in the cans. That's when Vandana lost her patience and went ahead to file a legal complaint against Dinesh, a case which she won in the High Court.

While on his part, Dinesh he owes Rs. 55 lakh to Vandana, of which he had deposited a cheque of Rs. 25 lakh in court and is hopeful of clearing the residual Rs. 30 lakh by early next week. He added that his wife be released when he clears the balance amount. He also added that, he is planning to release the film in August, as even Ajay Devgn also wants it to see the light of the day.

Meanwhile, SI S.R. Manjunath of Shivaji Nagar Police Station, Bengaluru said that Snigdha, who has been booked under Section138, will remain in judicial custody till the case is over. He also added that Dinesh has to pay Vandana nearly almost Rs. 1 core, of which Rs. 75 lakh is the principal amount while Rs. 25 lakh as interest.