A case has come to light in which a renowned doctor in the city was duped of over Rs 30 crore rupees by promising to make a film in memory of his late wife and earning Rs 200 crore rupees upon its release. Based on the doctor's report, the Bhupalpura police station has filed a fraud case against eight others, including Bollywood director Vikram Bhatt, his wife Shwetambari Bhatt, and Dinesh Kataria of Udaipur.
According to the police, Dr Ajay Murdia, son of the late Dr Ajay Murdia, a resident in front of Govindpura MB College, is a resident of the city. Mahavir Singh Murdia filed a report against film director Vikram Praveen Bhatt, his wife Shwetabari Bhatt, resident of Andheri West, Mumbai. The complaint also mentions Gangeshwarlal Srivastava, DSC, Chairman, Federation of Western India Cine Employees, Mumbai and Ashok Dubey, General Secretary, Federation of Western India Cine Employees. Being associated with the USM Music Group in Udaipur, he contacted Dinesh Kataria, who told him that he had many contacts in the film industry in Mumbai.
What is the full story?
Dr Ajay entrusted him with the task of inviting Anup Jalota, a bhajan and ghazal singer, to a colorful program on March 26, 2024, on the death anniversary of his late wife Indira, which he accomplished admirably. Accused Dinesh Kataria told Dr Ajay that if he commissioned a biopic in memory of his late wife Indira, others across India would learn about his good deeds and thoughts and the film would fetch four to five times the cost.
A few days later, Dinesh Kataria came to his home and said that he had spoken to Vikram Bhatt about making a biopic. At Dinesh's request, he went to Vrindavan Studios in Mumbai on April 25, 2024. Dinesh Kataria introduced him to Vikram Bhatt and he expressed his desire to have his biopic made. Bhatt assured him that he would handle all the work related to the film's production and asked him to simply keep sending money. Bhatt also revealed that his wife and daughter were both associates in film production and that he had established an LLC (VSB) registered in his wife's name, Shwetambari Bhatt.
Dr Ajay agreed to invest money in the production of two films with Vikram Bhatt. Bhatt signed an agreement between his wife's firm VSB LLP and my firm Indira Enterprises for the production of two films, Biopic and Maharana, for a sum of Rs 40 crore. Vikram Bhatt and Shwetambari demanded Rs 2.5 crore, which he paid via RTGS on May 31, 2024.
The monetary transactions
A few days later, Vikram and Shwetambari Bhatt came to Udaipur and said that with Rs 7 crore more in financing, they could make four films for Rs 47 crore. The release of these films would generate a profit of Rs 100 to Rs 200 crore. He then arranged for the bills to be paid from Indira Entertainment's account to vendors he had identified. On July 2, 2024, a new LLP was registered under the name Indira Entertainment. He transferred Rs 77,86,979 to accounts held by his staff, including Amandeep Manjit Singh, Mudit, Farzana Amirali, Abjani, Rahul Kumar, Sachin Gargote, and Saboba Bhimana Adkari. This amounted to Rs 24.5 million (24.5 million) 61,400 (427 million) 61,400 (427 million) 82,232 (232) from Indira Entertainment, despite the four films being produced for Rs 47 crore (47 crore).
Vikram Bhatt and Shwetambari Bhatt produced and released only two films, completing the second. The third film, Vishwa Virat, was only approximately 25 percent completed, and the shooting of the fourth, Maharana Rann, has not even begun. They embezzled Rs 25 crore from Maharana Rann alone. They then demanded Rs 11 crore. Thus, the accused have embezzled over Rs 30 crore. The police have registered a case and begun an investigation.
Dinesh Kataria of Udaipur tricked Dr Murdia into committing fraud
Dr Ajay Murdia's film career began with a tribute. After hosting a concert for Anup Jalota on the death anniversary of his wife Indira Murdia, Dinesh Kataria introduced him to Vikram Bhatt. Vikram proposed making a biopic and a historical film, Maharana-Ran. After Rs 40 crore rupee term sheet, a new agreement was reached for Rs 47 crore rupees for four films. Indira Enterprises was replaced by Indira Entertainment LLP, with Ajay Murdia becoming a 50 percent partner and Shwetambhari Bhatt becoming a 50 percent partner.
All vendors and expenses were to be paid directly by Indira Entertainment, subject to the approval of both Shwetambhari Bhatt and Dinesh Kataria (Indira Entertainment). Vikram, Shwetambhari Bhatt, Dinesh Kataria and Mehboob etc. conspired and prepared fake bills, overvalued bills and vouchers of fake persons and got them approved dishonestly by colluding with each other and got payment of about Rs 44 crores from Indira Entertainment and by keeping a nominal amount with the concerned payees, took away about Rs 30 crores from them.
A case has been filed under these serious sections
The case against these accused has been filed under sections 318 (4), 316 (2), 336 (3), 340 (2), and 61 (2) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), 2023. The more serious sections, including fraud, carry penalties of up to 7 years' imprisonment, along with fines, among other charges. Dr. Murdia has demanded that these accused be punished for their crimes and that all assets related to the film's production scripts, footage, music masters, hard drives, IPR, etc. be returned to Indira Entertainment.
(Report by Bhagwan Prajapat)
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