JA Entertainment and KriArj Entertainment, the joint producer of John Abraham's ambitious project Parmanu - The Story Of Pokhran, have finally parted ways. Today, John Abraham Entertainment announced the film will soon get a new release date. For the uninitiated, Parmanu was scheduled to release on December 8, 2017, but its release date got pushed to February 23, 2018, and then to April 6, 2018. Due to these extreme circumstances, JA Entertainment has issued an official statement addressing the issue.

"This is with reference to the Public Notice issued yesterday by us (copy attached) regarding the termination of our agreement with KriArj Entertainment Pvt. Ltd for our film Parmanu and their unsubstantiated response to it circulated in some sections of the media.

We would like to state the following facts:

Termination of the agreement by us is valid and legal. KriArj has committed material breaches which left us with no choice but to terminate in the interest of the film. We would like to state that this extreme step has been taken by us after days of trying to resolve the issues at hand in the best interest of the release of the film. We have fulfilled our commitment at every stage of this project and intimated Kriarj in writing from time to time. We have been waiting and asking for payments at every stage, our payments have either been delayed or we have received wrong UTR number. Cheque payments have been stopped time and again.

Delay in payments / non-payments have caused delays in the post-production work after the film's principal shoot was completed by us in time and on schedule last year. Despite repeated follow up, the distribution plan for the film has not been shared and there has been no transparency in their dealings with third parties. We have till date not been privy to any signed contracts of third parties with KriArj, if any.

JA Entertainment has time and again discussed the marketing campaign for the film with KriArj but the release dates have been pushed at least 3 times, due to delayed payments. Not only that, Kriarj without our approval has gone out and made statements giving false reasons for the delay. Our repeated follow-ups have only been met with false promises to settle the issue, thus wasting crucial time on the project. The industry knows of the track record of Kriarj. There has been a similar incident in the past with another film where they have done the same thing.

Given the above, and in the best interest of the film, we have terminated our contract with KriArj Entertainment Pvt. Ltd. and will soon announce the release schedule. Any future attempts by Kriarj to jeopardise the film or defame the production house and/or the film, like they have done in the past with other films, will compel us to initiate legal proceedings against them.

We request you for your continued support to us and the film and for you to use this statement in its entirety. May we also request you to kindly refrain from any conjecture based stories or putting out unverified facts on this matter.

Spokesperson
JA Entertainment Pvt. Ltd."

The statement comes a day after KriArj Entertainment said, "In response to the trade notice issued by John Abraham Entertainment claiming termination of their agreement with us for the film Parmanu, please note that the said termination is illegal and invalid."

Here's the trade notice issued by the actor's company:

Parmanu is directed by Abhishek Sharma and also features Diana Penty and Boman Irani.