Jaideep Ahlawat replaces Akshaye Khanna in ‘Drishyam 3’; legal notice sent to ‘Dhurandhar’ star
Mumbai (PTI): Film producer Kumar Mangat Pathak on Saturday said they’ve issued a legal notice to Akshaye Khanna for breach of agreement for the upcoming film, “Drishyam 3”, after the actor refused to be "part of the film via a text message".
Mangat Pathak said they had signed an agreement with Khanna last month for “Drishyam 3” and the actor was also given advance payment.
He further added that they decided to sign Jaideep Ahlawat on Friday as their shoot was getting affected.
Written and directed by Abhishek Pathak, the film is presented by Star Studio18. It is produced by Alok Jain, Ajit Andhare, Kumar Mangat Pathak and Abhishek.
“We were working on ‘Drishyam 3’ for two years and Akshaye was aware of this. We had narrated the entire script to him and he had liked it. Before signing the agreement, we negotiated on his acting fee thrice and only after it was okay for both of us, we signed the agreement and gave him the signing amount,” Mangat Pathak, who has earlier backed “Omkara”, “No Smoking”, and “Section 375”, told PTI.
Khanna and his team were approached for a comment. They are yet to respond to the producer's claim. Without disclosing the exact signing amount, Mangat Pathak said that he was given "whatever fees he had asked for", which is three times more than "Drishyam 2".
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"Drishyam 3" is headlined by Ajay Devgn, who plays the role of Vijay Salgaonkar, and Tabu is seen as former cop Meera Deshmukh.
In "Drishyam 2", Khanna essayed the role of IG Tarun Ahlawat who investigates the murder of Meera’s son Sam.
The producer said that Khanna signed the film only after long discussions on his looks.
“We also went a little back and forth for his look in the film, like he wanted to wear a wig and we told him that it would not look authentic if we suddenly gave his character a new look. He agreed to it and then we signed the agreement at his farmhouse in Alibaug, where he hugged Abhishek (director) and even said, ‘This is going to be a Rs. 500 crores film’,” the producer said.
“…But one day, he messaged saying, ‘I’m not doing the film’ and when he tried to reach out to him, he did not respond to calls and messages. His message came a day or two before the release of ‘Dhurandhar’,” he added.
He added that they were left with no other option but to take legal action, since Khanna had stopped responding to them.
“He didn’t respond to us when we sent him legal notice as he did not comply with the rules of the agreement. The notice was sent to him last week stating that, ‘You’ve to work according to the agreement and if you don't then we will file a case against you in the court’. It’s been a week he has not responded.
"We will be deciding on the next course of our action soon against him. We don’t know if the wig is the actual reason for not doing the film or was there something else. It’s a completely wrong thing that is happening,” he said.
“The work was also done on Akshaye’s look including his costumes, the filming for the movie too had begun from December 18 at YRF studios. He had given us dates till March. We are suffering losses because of him. Hence, we signed Jaideep,” he said.
Mangat Pathak, who has been working in the industry for close to five decades, described the chain of events as “disappointing”.
Having worked with Khanna on two of their films, “Aakrosh” and “Section 375”, the producer said they “never had any differences in the past”.
"He used to be a media shy person but today he is seen almost everywhere (on social media). We can clearly see there’s a paid campaign happening,” Mangat Pathak said, adding, it seems "the success of 'Dhurandhar' has gone to Khanna’s head".
The film is set to release in theatres on October 2, 2026.
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Real Madrid fines Valverde and Tchouaméni half a million euros each for altercation
Barcelona (AP): Real Madrid slapped players Federico Valverde and Aurélien Tchouaméni with half-a-million-euro ($588,000) fines on Friday for their altercation during practice.
The massive fines came a day after the midfielders tussled when the team trained. Valverde said in a post on social media on Thursday that no punches were thrown. But Valverde knocked his head on a table and he suffered a small cut that required a brief hospital visit.
On social media, Valverde initially called it a “meaningless fight” with a teammate and said “everything has been blown out of proportion."
His employers, however, considered it a significant enough breach of team discipline to nail both Valverde and Tchouaméni with fines that bite even the bank account of a top soccer player. The half-a-million euro penalties reflect the reputational damage the club was enduring in a chaotic end to a disappointing season.
In a statement, the 15-time European champion said its disciplinary action was concluded after both players expressed to the club “their complete remorse for what happened and apologized to one another.”
Madrid added they also apologized to their teammates, the coaching staff and club supporters, as well as showing their willingness to accept whatever disciplinary action the club deemed “opportune.”
Tchouaméni was back training with Madrid on Friday, two days before they play at Barcelona in a clasico. Madrid has to win otherwise Barcelona will be crowned La Liga champion.
After being notified of the fine, he posted a public apology to the club and its fans on social media.
“What happened this week in training is unacceptable,” Tchouaméni wrote. "I say this while thinking about the example we are expected to set for young people, whether in football or at school.
“Above all, I am sorry for the image we projected of the club.”
Valverde was not at practice due to the head knock.
Both players are set to play in the World Cup next month, with Tchouaméni playing for France and Valverde for Uruguay.
Chaotic end to a poor season
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The run-in between the players, who for seasons have played side by side in Madrid's midfield, came after they argued this week in previous training sessions. But tempers boiled over on Thursday. Spanish media was rife with reports that the players previously disagreed over the club's decision to let coach Xabi Alonso go after just months on the job.
It was not the only altercation involving Madrid players during training this week. Álvaro Carreras confirmed he was in a “minor” incident with a teammate. Spanish media said he and fellow defender Antonio Rüdiger got into a scuffle.
Álvaro Arbeloa, the coach who was promoted from Madrid's reserve team when Alonso was fired in January, will face tough questions on what went wrong inside the changing room when he gives a press conference on Saturday ahead of the clasico at Camp Nou.
Madrid is facing a second consecutive campaign without a major trophy amid rumors in the Spanish media that club president Florentino Pérez is considering bringing back Jose Mourinho to straighten out his underperforming team.
