Yet to get KJo’s `5cr ‘Ae Dil...’ donation: Army

After inviting the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) wrath before the release of his movie Ae Dil Hai Mushkil (ADHM), writer-director Karan Johar had allegedly agreed to donate `5 crore toward the Army Welfare Fund for the smooth release of his film, but army authorities claim that they have not received any such donation till date.

When contacted, the Indian Army told The Asian Age that it has not received any donation of `5-crore in the last one-month. The MNS washed its hands off saying the issue is now between the ADHM producers and the army. The Raj Thackeray-led MNS had claimed that they had laid the “donation for army” condition before Mr Johar for the smooth release of his film ADHM that stars Pakistani actor Fawad Khan. After the hullabaloo, many people had dubbed the MNS’ stand as a “cheap publicity stunt”, “arm-twisting” and “extortion”.

Indian Army spokesperson, Delhi, Colonel Rohan Anand said that as of November 1, no such amount was deposited in the fund. “We checked the balance in the account on November 1 and have not received an amount of Rs 5 crore from anyone in the fund,” Mr Anand said. Despite repeated attempts, Mr Johar and his PR representative did not respond to the text messages or the phone calls made by this newspaper.

The Army Welfare Fund Battle Casualties is a centralised fund, which accepts donations from individuals and institutions. It is handled by the Indian Army’s adjutant general branch. When contacted, the adjutant general branch, they too confirmed that they had not received any big donation.