Raj Nidimoru & Krishna DK of D2R Films and Dinesh Vijan of Maddock Films are embroiled in a financial dispute over the profit share of their recent film, Stree. Directed by Amar Kaushik, Stree is a horror-comedy film starring Rajkummar Rao, Shraddha Kapoor and Pankaj Tripathi. The film, released on August 31, earned more than Rs 120 crore at the Indian box office and was declared a major hit.
However, it has now been alleged that despite a 50-50 partnership between the producers, Vijan has refused to split the profit of Rs 40 crore with Raj & DK. He has also claimed that Raj & DK did not contribute financially to the film nor fully produce it. “Stree is out and out Raj & DK’s creation.
Whether it was writing the script, story and screenplay, getting Amar Kaushik (their first AD on Go Goa Gone) to direct the film or attaching Rajkummar Rao to star in it,” a source close to D2R Films said, revealing that Vijan has only agreed to pay Rs 5 crore to D2R Films. “Raj & DK were already underway with producing the film when Dinesh contacted them and convinced them to let him be part of the project. Not only did they oversee the shoot throughout the schedules in Chanderi and Bhopal, but were also leading every single process from casting, finding the crew, recce, shooting to editing, music, mixing and the final cut.
Everyone who worked on the film — the actors and the crew — know their contribution to the film,” the source added. On the other hand, another source close to Maddock Films has accused Raj & DK of defaulted on their contract and trying to snatch credit from director Amar Kaushik and the film’s additional dialogue writer Sumit Aroraa.
The source also claimed that it was Vijan who got most of the male actor s on board and took care of the production. Raj & DK are known for directing films like Shor in the City, Go Goa Gone and A Gentleman. They co-wrote the screenplay of Stree, inspired by the urban legend of Nale Ba. Dinesh Vijan founded Maddock Films in 2014. He is producing Amar Kaushik’s upcoming film, Bala, costarring Ayushmann Khurrana and Bhumi Pednekar