Sushant Singh Rajput Death Case: Aditya Chopra gives statement on Paani film controversy
Mumbai Police on Friday recorded the statement of Yash Raj Films head Aditya Chopra regarding actor Sushant Singh Rajput's suicide case. He arrived at Versova Police Station with two lawyers to give his statement as Sushant had signed a three-film deal with YRF. The actor had starred in two films and Shekhar Kapur's Paani was supposed to be his third. However, the film never saw the light of the day. Since Sushant's sudden demise, the film Paani has been in the headlines as it is considered one of the reasons behind the Kai Po Che actor's mental breakdown. Now, Aditya Chopra has made some revelations about the film and the creative differences between him and director Shekhar Kapoor. He stated that Sushant was not the reason why the film got shelved.
During the interrogation, Aditya Chopra shared that Shekhar Kapur and he decided to co-produce Paani in 2012 and Sushant was their mutual choice to play the lead role. In September 2013, Sushant Singh Rajput was even given the final call that he will star in the film. The shooting of the film was supposed to go on floors in April 2014 and Sushant had joined the workshop. Although YRF had blocked Sushant's dates according to the film's shooting schedule, they had not prepared any contract nor was any transaction made regarding the film with Shekhar Kapoor or Sushant Singh Rajput.
Aditya Chopra informed that during the pre-production of the film, Sushant was present in every meeting, either with the creative graphics team or the pre-production management team. But in 2015, there was a creative difference between Aditya Chopra and Shekhar Kapur after which Yash Raj backed down from producing the project.
Mumbai Police also asked Aditya Chopra about his creative differences with filmmaker Shekhar Kapoor. He informed that when he agreed to make Paani with Shekhar Kapoor, it was clear that the budget of this dream project will be close to 150 crores, according to which everything was decided. In pre-production, an amount of Rs 7 crores was also spent by YRF. While Chopra and Kapur had different visions for the film, they took the project forward. The problem arose when the film's shooting schedule neared and the burden of the project started coming on YRF. This led them to back out of the project citing creative differences and budget issues.
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According to Aditya Chopra, when Sushant Singh Rajput was cast in the film Raabta, it was the decision taken by YRF's creative team. He explained that no one stopped Sushant from working outside Yash Raj Banner. He also mentioned that there were no objections from Yash Raj regarding Sushant starring in Fitoor, but the actor left the film due to his own reasons.
Aditya Chopra is not at all convinced that Sushant Singh Rajput went into depression due to the film Paani getting shelved. According to him, Sushant's contract was supposed to end in November 2015 and YRF had also offered him a contract renewal. Chopra stated that he had a word with Sushant regarding Paani and had explained to him the reason behind backing out of the project. He had also assured him that he will get good projects in the future but Sushant did not want to continue his collaboration with YRF. Aditya Chopra shared that they ended the deal on mutual grounds so there cannot be an issue of revenge.
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