Monday, Oct 28, 2024 22:00 [IST]
Last Update: Sunday, Oct 27, 2024 16:17 [IST]
GANGTOK,: Darjeeling-based filmmaker Shenpenn Khymsar has been directed by a court in Mumbai to deposit Rs 3.31 crore that he had borrowed from a businessman in Portugal for making a film.
Khymsar, in 2022 had directed and produced ‘Broken Wings’, a bilingual film under the banner of the Monk and the Warriors production, a tragic love story set in the backdrop of the 1986 Gorkhaland agitation, that was ‘inspired by true events’. The film featured Bollywood actor Vinay Pathak, along with debutants Mrinal Singh (Endo) and Sunakshi Grover.
According to sources, Khymsar had taken a sum of CAS 500000 (around Rs 3.31 crore) from Portugal businessman Frank Teleghani, in three instalments as a loan for making the film. He had promised to repay the loan, once the film was released. He had taken the loan from Teleghani in 2019 and 2020. However, the money was not returned to Frank, nor did Shenpenn inform the businessman of the earnings made from the film.
Teleghani eventually filed a case with the city civil and sessions court of Greater Bombay. The court heard the case in August and ordered Khymsar to deposit the money he owes Teleghani in court.
According to the court order, Judge AV Kasture said that Khymsar and his production house should also elaborate on the earnings made from the film.
Kymsar, who is currently in the United States, has expressed that the film was never released and has made no earnings.
The film was scheduled to release in Gangtok in 2022, but was cancelled hours before the function due to an injunction over copyright issues on one of the songs.
In another controversial event, after the making of the film, retired IPS officer KL Tamta had accused the filmmaker of ‘mala fide denigration’ of his personality and service. Khymsar, in ‘Broken Wings’, has used the surname Tamta, while referring to a police officer. The retired IPS officer had threatened to file a lawsuit if Khymsar did not remove the reference from the film.
