Vikram Bhatt, jailed in fraud case, didn’t pay 1920 film’s debutant actress, casting director, vendors: ‘The film earned Rs 17-18 cr’ | Bollywood News
4 min readChennaiFeb 10, 2026 03:16 PM IST
As filmmaker Vikram Bhatt and his wife Shwetambari Bhatt continue to remain behind bars in a Rs 30 crore cheating and criminal breach of trust case, another case against them has recently come to light. Parag Chadha, the casting director of Vikram Bhatt’s 2023 film 1920: Horrors of the Heart, has accused the filmmaker of non-payment of dues. After Parag made the allegation public, several actors and crew members associated with the film have also alleged non-payment of their dues.
‘100% of my fees is pending’
Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter India, Parag accused Vikram Bhatt of not paying 100% of his fees. He shared that he was hesitant to raise the issue publicly for the last three years to avoid affecting his livelihood and future work. Parag said that despite the makers acknowledging the payment that was due to him, the amount was never cleared. “I have email confirmations acknowledging my dues. Despite that, no payment was made. I’ve written this money off as bad debt. Speaking out is not about recovering it, it’s about awareness,” the casting director said.
Parag also pointed out that he was contacted by multiple actors, some of whom earned as little as Rs 6,000 per day, who have not received their full dues and are still waiting to be paid, either partially or in full. For the unversed, 1920: Horrors of the Heart was directed by Vikram’s daughter from first marriage, Krishna Bhatt. The film is co-produced by Vikram and starred Avika Gor and Rahul Dev in lead roles.
‘Payment should have been made after OTT release’
Vishwas Kulkarni, father of actor Ketaki Kulkarni, also accused the makers of paying only Rs 1.5 lakh out of the Rs 2.6 lakh promised to his daughter, who worked on the film for 26 days under a contract that promised her Rs 10,000 per day. “The remaining amount was promised but never paid,” he said. Vishwas admitted that he initially received responses assuring him that the full amount would be paid, but eventually those communications also stopped.
Ketaki’s father further alleged that the film earned money after its OTT release, yet the pending dues were still not cleared. He said, “From what we understand, not many have received their full amount. This was not a case of the film not earning money. It did some 17 to 18 crore at the box office and then it was released on OTT. Payments should have been cleared from that.” Vishwas described the experience as “distressing” for his daughter, as this was her first project and she worked on the film when she was just 16–17 years old.
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‘There is no hope’
He also shared that he avoided filing a complaint with the Cine and TV Artistes Association (CINTAA) to protect his daughter from being blacklisted in the industry.
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A crew member told The Hollywood Reporter India that several members of the direction and production teams have not been paid, including vendors. Some crew members, however, managed to approach industry associates and eventually received their payments.
Another crew member told the publication, “I worked on the project for a few months but was not paid for the last month. We were told the payment would be cleared after the OTT release, but later informed that there was no cash flow. I needed the money during Deepavali, but nothing came my way.” He added, “There is no hope now.”
