Rajpal Yadav, who is currently enjoying the box office run of his latest release ‘Bhooth Bangla,’ recently addressed the long-standing public assumptions around his cheque bounce case that had led to his imprisonment. The controversy dates back to 2010, when Rajpal reportedly borrowed Rs 5 crore to finance ‘Ata Pata Laapata.’ Released in 2012, the movie tanked at the box office, and the loan remained unsettled, leading to a legal case. Reflecting on the same in a recent interview, Rajpal Yadav claimed that he didn’t go to jail because he was unable to pay Rs 5 crore; the issue was bigger than just money. Thus, he is determined to fight the case his entire life and not settle ever. He added that the entire case incurred him a loss of Rs 22 crore.
Rajpal Yadav addresses the cheque bounce case
During his conversation with Shubhankar Mishra, Rajpal was questioned why he didn’t repay Rs 5 crore, despite having the money and work at that point in time. The ‘Bhool Bhulaiyaan’ actor explained, “This is exactly the point of my case, it’s not about not being able to pay Rs 5 crores. It’s too early to speak on why I went to jail or if I have the money or not.”The actor further elaborated how it wasn’t about just money; the matter would have been over long ago. “Had it just been a matter of Rs 5 crores, it would have been resolved in 2012 itself, but because of this Rs 5 crores, I have incurred losses of Rs 17 crores. That time, the matter was not in court, when the person jeopardised my film’s worth of Rs 17 crores. After this person saw 70 per cent of the film, he invested another Rs 5 crores.”
Rajpal Yadav’s claim of incurring Rs 22 crore loss , and his determination to never settle
As he further detailed the issue, the actor mentioned how the whole scenario had led to his loss of Rs 22 crore. He quoted, “Rs 5-7 crores were to be spent on the film’s release, and the total production budget of the film was Rs 22 crores. Even if you are an enemy, you would not stop the project from releasing, especially when 10 others have also invested money in this. We have been talking about the intention behind giving these Rs 5 crores. My intention was good. What was my fault?”The movie had a short box office run, didn’t reach the 200-screen mark, all leading to a big loss. On top of that, a press conference conducted by the reported lender added to the troubles.“A film that was supposed to release on over 1000 screens, Amitabh Bachchan inaugurated its music album, but it was not even allowed to sustain for three days. He sank Rs 22 crores by just doing a press conference; his intention was bad, which cost me Rs 22 crores,” Rajpal Yadav said before adding, “Since the last 10 years, I have been saying the same thing. The film had 200 artists, including Dara Singhji, but he made it an issue as if I owed him Rs 50 crores and absconded with it. When he had post-dated cheques already, then why did he bring a stay order on the film’s release? Soon after the High Court rejected their stay order, this party went and did an accusatory press conference. Because of this, the film could not be released in 200 screens either.”The actor added that with the right intention in heart, he will never back down, never settle. “I will keep fighting with him all my life over this intention; I won’t go in for a settlement,” Rajpal said
Rajpal Yadav expressed gratitude towards the industry
In these difficult times, the one thing that melted Rajpal Yadav’s heart was the unmatched support given by the film industry. Speaking about it, he shared, “There was no one from the film industry who didn’t stand by me. There are two types of help, one is where others get to know about it, and the other is done secretly, the way Sonu Sood took a stand for me…”He added that there was never a time when he didn’t have work. “I have done 250 films in 25 years,” he said. Expressing his gratitude, he noted that the industry had always been supportive of him.
