Manish Gupta calls out 'Dhurandhar' star Akshaye Khanna for 'lack of ethics'; claims 'Section 375' was his comeback film

Amid the controversy and subsequent legal battle against Akshaye Khanna over his exit from 'Drishyam 3', filmmaker Manish Gupta has now come out strongly against the actor, alleging unprofessional conduct. Gupta, who reportedly worked with Khanna in 'Section 375, called out the actor's unprofessional behaviour while working on the 2019 crime-thriller. Speaking about his experience, he shared with Bollywood Hungama a series of events dating back to 2017, when he was the director and writer of 'Section 375' while Kumar Mangat served as producer. He revealed, "His (Akshaye's) fee was fixed at Rs 2 crores. He took an advance of Rs. 21 lakhs, and he signed a contract with us. But suddenly, he gave away the dates he’d committed to us to another movie 'The Accidental Prime Minister' and he flew off to London to shoot that movie, leaving me and my crew waiting idle for six months!" After keeping the team waiting, he further alleged that Khanna, on his return, sought to renegotiate his fee and demanded Rs 3.25 crores. Gupta claimed, "He wanted to fully control the film and wanted everything done his way." However, as the filmmaker reportedly stood his ground, the makers reportedly dropped him as director for Ajay Bahl. Addressing this sudden removal from the project, Gupta said, “Producer Kumar Mangat, instead of disciplining the actor’s unreasonable behaviour, instead made me a scapegoat and removed me as the director while seizing my fully-written bound script and the hard drive containing my three years of hard work on the pre-production.”However, later, on threatening legal action, Mangat opted for an out of court settlement and gave him the solo writer's credit. “Today, ironically when producer Kumar Mangat is facing the brunt of Akshaye’s unethical behaviour in an Ajay Devgan starrer film Drishyam 3, Mangat has taken legal action against Akshaye," he told the portal. Although the filmmaker called out the actor's behaviour, he insisted that "Akshaye is no doubt a brilliant actor." While making it clear that he was only pointing out his 'lack of ethics', he further shared that he considered 'Section 375' as Akshaye’s "comeback film after a decade of anonymity."