Vikas Bahl Sex Scandal Aftermath: Reliance To Pull Out From Phantom?

That's the latest whisper in Bollywood. The corporate giant refuses to talk. The curtains continue to come down on Vikas-Anurag-Vikramaditya-Madhu's Phantom. It's trippy

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Vikas Bahl Sex Scandal Aftermath: Reliance To Pull Out From Phantom?

Phantom's woes continue. After the news of Vikas Bahl's sex scandal, Queen director Vikas is said to have been asked to quit. And then, we brought you the news that his partner Madhu Mantena is fed up of the bad publicity and in-fighting and has hence decided to go solo.

The latest buzz on Phantom is that its funding partner Reliance Entertainment might pull out from the alliance.

While nothing is final yet and Shibasish Sarkar (COO, Reliance Entertainment) refused to revert on the 'likely' withdrawl, the rumour that Reliance Entertainment is thinking in this direction is growing by the minute. We also texted Vikas, Madhu, Anurag Kashyap and Vikramaditya Motwane- the four head honchos of Phantom- but they too did not revert.

For those not in the know, Reliance Entertainment holds 50 % stakes, Anurag-Vikas-Vikramaditya-Madhu 12.5 % each.

A source says, "Combing with Phantom has given many losses to Reliance Entertainment. The recent sex scandal in Phantom has given rise to a lot of meetings in Reliance Entertainment, and it is likely that Phantom (minus Vikas & Madhu?) may be left without an investor.

Take a look at the losses:

Raman Raghav 2.0- Rs 6 cr
raman raghav 2 0 poster
Image Source: india

All Is Well - Rs 8.5 cr
all is well poster

Image Source: impawards


Trapped- Rs 5 cr
trapped movie poster
Image Source: popopics

BFG starring Steven Spielberg- Rs 3.8 cr
bfg movie poster

Image Source: impawards

Add this to the salary payouts of Phantom which are rumoured to be around Rs 12 cr per annum

Given the grey of Anurag, Vikas, Vikramaditya and Madhu, each of these films could have been a profitable venture. But somehow, the cohesiveness was missing when it came to building these films- and hence things went awry."

Adds the source, "Even if you don't consider the recent embarrassment of the sex scandal, you need to ponder a while on the total losses that Phantom's recent projects have met with. "

What ails Phantom? SpotboyE.com has it that it has lots of ideas and talent but its four head honchos  who are ironically known as the 'band of brothers' seldom see eye to eye.

Anurag  and Vikas  are almost always at loggerheads. Their friction started from the days of Bombay Velvet and they're still not on the same page. And now with Madhu also not too keen on remaining within the company, the disagreement quotient is bound to increase as Madhu was often the mediator in the in-fighting that took place.

A huge amount of work and goodwill will now be required to see Phantom restored.

Seems, Anurag, Vikas, Vikramaditya and Madhu will be better off independently. There is no doubt that Anurag is an extremely talented flimmaker. Vikas Bahl's Kangana Ranaut starrer Queen has gone down in history. Vikramaditya's Lootera and Trapped were good movies which unfortunately didn't set the box-office on fire. Last but maybe not the least, Madhu's credibilty is immensely high in Bollywood.


Thumbnail Image Source: hdpics