Director-producer Rakesh Roshan's troubles with Kites are far from over since the film bombed at the box office.
The Mumbai Mirror reports that Roshan is now under Enforcement Directorate's watch for violating the Foreign Exchange Management Act while shooting for the film in foreign locales.
Kites, a romantic-thriller starring Hrithik Roshan and Mexican actress Barbara Mori, was shot in Maldives, Mexico and the US. ED is now looking into allegations that Roshan used foreign exchange meant for production work to meet personal expenses.
The other charge against Roshan is that he carried junk film reels from India for the shoot but used fresh reels bought in the US. This way, he evaded duty on the new film reels when he returned to India. According to a senior ED officer, Roshan bought film reels worth Rs 50 lakh in the US.
Roshan was summoned to the ED last week and his statement was recorded. However, when Mumbai Mirror contacted Roshan, he denied visiting the ED office. He also said that there was no case against him with the ED.
According to ED officials, investigations against Roshan began in May this year after a representative of Spectrum Entertainment, a US-based company, sent a complaint to the agency saying that Roshan had paid them just $ 4.3 million against pending bills of $ 5.9 million. Spectrum Entertainment was hired by Roshan to manage all outdoor shoots of Kites in the US.
Spectrum Entertainment alleged that Roshan drew Rs 9 lakh from production expenses and spent the money for his personal use. “The complainant has furnished all the challans which clearly indicate that he (Roshan) withdrew the cash from the production account,” an ED officer, who did not wish to be identified, said. All these transactions took place between June 2008 and September 2008.
When Spectrum Entertainment noticed discrepancies in transfer of funds, it terminated the contract with Roshan, forcing him to hire the services of Bollywood Hollywood, another entertainment outfit, for the film's outdoor shoots.
According to FEMA, an individual can carry up to $ 10,000 on foreign visits – $ 5000 in cash and the rest in travel cheques. However, it's possible to get sanction for bigger amounts if one is going abroad to shoot a film. However, this money cannot be used for any other purpose.
Enforcement Directorate's deputy director, Mumbai zone, Sameer Bajaj was not available for comment.
