Neerja Bhanot's family to take legal action against 'Neerja' movie makers; Producers say, profit made by film was offered to Bhanot family!

Bollywood movie Neerja, which grossed an estimated Rs 125 crore in worldwide earnings and bagged the National Award for Best Hindi Feature Film, among several other film awards, could be headed for a legal battle with the family of brave heart flight purser Neerja Bhanot all set to take the producers of the box-office hit film to court. The main contention of the Bhanot family is that the makers of the successful film did not honour their commitment to share 10 percent of the box office collections with the Neerja Bhanot Trust and the family. “I will not comment on this issue at this stage. All I can tell you is that we will not tolerate injustice,” Aneesh Bhanot, brother of Neerja Bhanot, told IANS here. 10 Unknown facts about Neerja Bhanot and her alleged boy friend Binny Aneesh refused to give any details about the legal case, saying that the family lawyer will be able to give the exact status. Sources, however, said that the family is moving the Punjab and Haryana High Court in this regard and a legal notice has already been served on the makers of Neerja. Aneesh Bhanot and Akhil Bhanot brothers of Neerja Bhanot during the 23rd SOL Lions Gold Awards in Mumbai, India on January 4, 2017. (Nitin Lawate/SOLARIS IMAGES) The film starred actress Sonam Kapoor, who played the lead role of Neerja Bhanot and even got a special mention by the jury of the National Film awards for her acting, the film bagged the ‘Best Feature Film in Hindi’ award at the 64th National Film Awards in April this year. VIDEO INTERVIEW: What happened when Neerja’s mother called Sonam her ‘Laado’, Sonam says it all Produced by Fox Star Studios and Bling Unplugged, the film was co-produced by leading fashion photographer Atul Kasbekar. It was directed by Ram Madhvani. Sonam Kapoor, played the lead role of Neerja Bhanot in the movie However, co-producers of the movie have a different say, Profits from "Neerja" were repeatedly offered to the family of late flight purser Neerja Bhanot as per the existing contract but they declined to accept it, the co-producers of the National Award winning film said on Tuesday. A statement read: "Bling Unplugged had acquired the rights to make 'Neerja' from the Bhanot family. The agreement between Bhanots and Bling clearly spelt out that Bhanots would be paid a fixed upfront amount (which was paid as per the timelines) and a variable amount, which was to be computed as a share of net profits that Bling would receive. "It was always abundantly clear that we would partner with a studio, in this case Fox Star India. The Bhanot family was always aware of the same and have in fact met the studio reps on many occasions. To imply otherwise is simply untrue. "All financial transactions post release have been shared with the Bhanot family immediately and in a transparent manner. Their share of the profits, which is a share of ours, has been immediately offered." The statement further said the Bhanot family has "declined to accept the same and now wish to get a share of the studio profits". "This is effectively a retrospective negotiation and not as per what is signed by them years ago. It is unfortunate that despite having a clear contractual arrangement the Bhanots have decided to dispute the financial understanding at this belated stage. "To reiterate, the amounts due to the Bhanots, as per the existing contract have been repeatedly offered by us to them," the statement read. An inspirational tale, "Neerja" was appreciated for its performances by Sonam Kapoor and Shabana Azmi, who played her mother on screen. When IANS had contacted Aneesh Bhanot, brother of Neerja Bhanot, he had said: "I will not comment on this issue at this stage. All I can tell you is that we will not tolerate injustice."