Poor Vashu Bhagnani. The Pooja Entertainment producer has been through the fires after his last film, the Akshay Kumar-Tiger Shroff actioner Bade Miyan Chhote Miyan, did not achieve the expected results at the box office. It followed earlier films by Vashuji that met a similar fate. That was enough for ugly rumors to start floating in Bollywood that the popular filmmaker was being compelled to sell his multi-story Pooja Entertainment office building in Mumbai’s tony Juhu area to pay off debts amounting to almost Rs. 250 crore. Adding fuel to this fire was wild talk that Vashuji was also now laying off 80 percent of his production staff.

Fed up with this rumor mill spewing untruths about his state of affairs, the producer gave an interview that began trending on social media in which he clarified that the Pooja Entertainment office building wasn’t being sold off. He was very much the owner. And he had redevelopment plans for it that had been put on hold while Bade Miyan Chhote Miyan was being made. “It will be a tower that will house luxury homes,” Vashuji said. He addressed the loose talk gaining currency that actors of his films were aggressively following up on their outstanding dues. “Akshay Kumar ji called to tell me that he is with me and I should not worry. And so did several other actors.”

Despite this, some sections of the Bollywood press have continued to viciously target the production house on social media with posts on how Vashuji has had a string of disasters at the box office that had led to his ruin. A trade source sympathetically said, “Vashuji should be given a fair chance to clear his name and whatever debts are being credited to him. People should also refrain from calling him out unfairly while he is in the process of rebuilding his brand and image. Nobody should forget that Vashuji and Pooja Entertainment have given some super-hit films as well including Biwi No. 1, Coolie No. 1, Pyar Kiya To Darna Kya, Coolie No.1, and Mujhe Kuch Kehna Hai. The industry and media owe his respect.”