‘Whimsical & Difficult’ Akshaye Khanna! Drishyam 3 Controversy Fuels Viral Blast From Past

Mumbai: Amid the ongoing controversy around Akshaye Khanna’s sudden exit from ‘Drishyam 3’, apparently due to less renumeration, ‘Section 375’ writer, Manish Gupta’s old comments about the actor has gone viral on social media platforms.

In an old interview on the Kosmic Konnection podcast, Manish had alleged that Akshaye is whimsical, lazy and the most difficult actor to work with.

The writer also accused Akshaye of playing politics on sets and not giving him the due credit for the film ‘Section 375.’

“It took me three years to write Section 375. I sat in 160 court hearings. I did a lot of research, met judges, lawyers, and rape victims. I got the idea of the film from Shiney Ahuja’s case. When he was arrested, I was in Mumbai. I rushed to Oshiwara with my friend, and we questioned the police about his arrest. I was told the law is not like this,” Gupta said.

“Sahi aur galat baad mein hai… pehle arrest hoga. Tabhi law aisa tha (Right and wrong come later… first, there will be an arrest. That’s how the law was back then). I said to myself, ‘This is a very wrong thing,’ and decided to make a movie,” he continued.

Accusing Akshaye of playing dirty politics, Gupta said, “I wrote the whole film. I did the entire pre-production. I even roped in Akshaye Khanna, Richa Chadha, and Rahul Bhat and signed them. I am the director of the movie. But the producer and the lead actor played very dirty politics with me. I got credit only for writing. This is Bollywood.”

“He is the most difficult person I have ever worked with. He is whimsical and lazy. Woh itna mushkil sa mahaul create karta hai ki… har cheez uske hisaab se honi chahiye. Kisi ki sunta nahi hai. Sabki beizzati karta hai. Actor achha hai, par ek achha insaan hone mein farak hai. Uske saath koi kaam nahi karna chahta hai (He creates such a difficult environment that everything has to be according to his wishes. He doesn’t listen to anyone. He insults everyone. He is a good actor, but there is a difference between being a good actor and being a good person. Nobody wants to work with him),” Gupta revealed, adding that people avoid working with Akshaye because of his whimsical nature.

Meanwhile, ‘Drishyam 3’ producer Kumar Mangat Pathak has sent a legal notice to Akshaye, accusing the actor of walking out of the film suddenly, which led to huge monetary loss to the makers.