Shailendra accuses Shoojit Sircar of stealing his film idea

Shailendra remembers backing Shoojit Sircar’s directorial debut Yahaan. While the film received positive reviews, it was not successful at the box office. He then began working on another project titled Johnny Walker. “I came up with an idea for a film called Johnny Walker. We wrote it in our office and proposed it to Amitabh Bachchan. He was going to play Johnny in the film. I took Shoojit to meet Amitabh Bachchan at his bungalow, Jalsa. I made him meet Amitabh Bachchan and the deal was also signed. I paid Amitabh Bachchan Rs 4 crore to act,” he told Siddharth Kannan.

Despite paying the advance, Shailendra said he was surprised to know that Amitabh Bachchan wanted to produce the film under his own production company, AB Corp. “I had a concert on December 31, where all the big names of Bollywood like Shah Rukh Khan, Priyanka Chopra were present. The CEO of AB Corp came there and told me, ‘Your film Johnny Walker will be produced by AB Corp.’ I told him, ‘I am already producing the film, I have named Mr. Bachchan as an actor for the film and I paid him 4 crores and the contract is signed.’ I don’t want AB Corp to produce my film. “I only want Mr. Bachchan as an actor.”

Shailendra said his refusal to give up the rights to the film was not well received and ultimately led to him losing the project. “After that, I lost Shoojit Sircar to Amitabh Bachchan forever. All Amitabh Bachchan’s ads are directed by him since that day. I also lost my film. The film was made as Johnny Mastana by Ronnie Screwvala (founder of production house UTV Group). It was directed by Shoojit Sircar, with Amitabh Bachchan and Dia Mirza. The film has not been released till today. Why?”

After discovering that UTV had backed the project he had originally developed, Shailendra said he filed a legal case against the creators. “We filed a case. The international studio also filed a case. Multiple cases were filed against the film. Our case is still going on and then I met Mr. Bachchan once on a flight. I asked him what is this. He didn’t say anything. He just smiled. He is too dignified to say anything,” he said.

Shoebite was never released despite the court passing an order in favor of UTV in 2012. However, Shoojit Sircar and Amitabh Bachchan collaborated on films like Piku and Gulabo Sitabo.

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David Dhawan warned me against producing Devdas

The producer also recalled another instance where he was going to finance Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s iconic film Devdas and had even paid an advance of Rs 11 lakh. However, he abandoned the project overnight on the advice of David Dhawan. “I spent a lot of time with Sanjay Leela Bhansali in Devdas, to make Devdas with him. I wanted to make the film with him. This was the time when I thought I can be a big producer. Filmfare named me among the six most powerful people in Bollywood. So, I thought I can do these big things. I remember, I organized a party and gave an advance of Rs 11 lakh to produce Devdas. Aishwarya Rai was there, and Sanjay’s mother was there.”

He added, “There is a solid reason why I left the film and only David Dhawan knows it. He was the reason I left Devdas. It was not Sanjay who told me to leave. There was an undercurrent to it, a big one. They told me to leave Devdas overnight. David Dhawan told me ‘don’t produce such a big film. It’s a bad idea’. I immediately left the film. I love David. He is too good. He knows a lot more about the industry than I do.” Shailendra, however, admitted that he “regrets” his decision.