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FAIR? NOT FAIR? THE DATE DEBATE
The lawsuit against Sara Ali Khan makes Bollywood mull if actors can give away their ‘committed’ dates
That actors often ‘commit’ dates for one film and then give them away to another producer is not new in Bollywood. But rarely are objections raised, and it’s rarer still, for a filmmaker to take legal action over this. Which is why the case of Sara Ali Khan is so striking. While being committed to debut with Abhishek Kapoor’s film Kedarnath, Sara, the daughter of actors Saif Ali Khan and Amrita Singh, has signed the Karan Johar-Rohit Shetty film Simmba — and she has just been sued for this.
Kedarnath, for which Sara’s dates were locked till July, went through a bad patch and its shooting got stalled. In the meantime, Sara was offered the lead role opposite Ranveer Singh in Simmba, and her agency gave her June dates to that film. This left Abhishek high and dry, though he has a new backer, Ronnie Screwvala, and wants to resume shooting.
Trade analyst Atul Mohan says, “When the makers of Kedarnath were not able to fulfil their commitment and complete the film on time, it’s only fair on an actor’s part to not waste time and give those dates to another film.”
Along with Sara, her agent and talent management agency are also named in the first-of-its-kind case filed by Abhishek. The lawsuit urges the court to direct Sara to complete her shoot for Kedarnath and demands ₹ 5 crore as damages.
Sara’s agency refused to comment and directed us to Kedarnath’s publicists, who are waiting for the makers to send out a statement. When we reached out to Saif and Amrita, we didn’t get a response.
The question is: can actors give away committed dates like this? Trade expert Amod Mehra says, “This practice has always been there, but earlier, things were discussed; now, everything is on paper. Earlier, we had a film association, but now they are no longer the governing bodies, so only the court can take any action.”
Mehra differs with Mohan’s view, and feels that it’s “irresponsible” on the actor’s part to not value a filmmaker’s time and money. “Just because a film with a bigger banner and star has come your way, it’s not done to put your prior commitments on the backburner,” he says.
Critic Omar Qureshi opines, “The industry is a small place and everything is [and can be] settled verbally and calmly. A legal notice doesn’t really help.”
Producer Amul Vikas Mohan says, “You can’t expect a young new actress to hold on to [a film] forever. Her career is at stake. [But] she’s being handled by a premier agency that could have resolved these date conflicts.”