Just about the time news was breaking out yesterday that the much-awaited Rajnikanth and Akshay Kumar sci-fi thriller 2.0 will hit the worldwide screens on November 29, another bit of information was sensationally but falsely leaked to select media about the Bollywood superstar.
It went on to say that Akshay has signed a fourth film with Prernaa Arora’s KriArj Entertainment. The actor has already done three critically acclaimed films and box office hits with KriArj including Rustom in 2016, Toilet: Ek Prem Katha in 2017 and PadMan this year. But as far as Bollywood trade circles know, Akshay had not signed on any new film with Prernaa.
Earlier this year, Prernaa had given media interviews saying, “KriArj is lucky to be doing its fourth film with Akshay. My partner Arjun N. Kapoor and I have established a fabulous rapport with him. We are willing to go along with any project that Akshay wants. He has discussed a particular idea with us and we are all for it.” The film was reportedly to be in the fun zone but of social relevance and Akshay would co-produce it with KriArj.
Now comes the twist in the tale. Yesterday’s news said that to facilitate the fourth film he was reportedly going to be doing with Prernaa, Akshay had gone on to ask producer Vashu Bhagnani to change the dates he had given him earlier for a film he was long since supposed to do with Vashu’s Puja Entertainment India Ltd. And it was not known at the time whether Vashu would comply with the actor’s request.
The report said that Vashu had approached Akshay at the time when Prernaa was bitterly engaged in a legal battle with John Abraham Entertainment over Parmanu in the Bombay High Court and KriArj was also in trouble over the making of Kedarnath and Batti Gul Meter Chalu. It added that the producer was under the impression that Akshay would not want to work with Prernaa after the bad press KriArj was getting and would work with him. But now Akshay wanted to reconsider the dates he had apparently given Vashu.
PeepingMoon.com got in touch with the actor who just started shooting for the Sajid Nadiadwala-produced and Sajid Khan-directed comedy Housefull 4 in London with Riteish Deshmukh and Bobby Deol. When asked for a confirmation on the fourth collaboration between Akshay and Prernaa, his manager categorically said, “This news is false. Akshay Kumar is not doing any film with Prernaa Arora and KriArj Entertainment!” So, what’s the truth then? And who has given this story to the Bollywood press?