Sujoy Ghosh ousted from Kahaani franchise

MUMBAI: ‘Kahaani’ has sprung yet another surprise. And this time the twist was scripted by the CMD of PEN India Pvt Ltd and the co producer of the film, Jayantilal Gada. He has ousted Sujoy Ghosh and signed Kundan Shah of the 1983 cult classic ‘Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro’, to helm the second part of the film, announced with much fanfare a few months back.

The decision comes two weeks after Ghosh sent a letter to Gada allegedly asking for a whopping Rs 35 crore for the sequel to the 2012 thriller. Not only that, the director had also demanded that music and satellite rights rest with his company boundscript and there be no co-signatory from Pen India on board.

In reply, PEN India had asked Ghosh to show the full script of Kahaani 2 along with a note from Vidya Balan confirming being a part of the film. About the recent development, a source close to Gada said, “Sujoy never sent any reply to Gada’s mail and after contemplating for a while, PEN CMD decided to go ahead with the project and replace Ghosh with Shah.”

Confirming the development, Gada said, “Movies are made with teamwork and not greed.” Elaborating on the project, Shah said, “I am happy to direct the second edition of the franchise. However, this is not a sequel. The story is entirely different than that of Sujoy’s film. I had a woman-oriented script, which I took to Gada. He loved it and decided to make Kahaani 2 with it. I plan to put it on floors sometime next year. ”

When contacted Ghosh, he burst out laughing and said, “Anybody can make a woman-oriented film—be it Kundan Shah or Jayantilal Gada himself. Let them do what they want. As far as the story of Vidya Bagchi is concerned, nobody can take that story forward except me. At this point I am not sure when I will start on it, or if I will work on it at all. But it is only me, who has the right to work on that story. “