Jackky Bhagnani and Vashu Bhagnani sell Mumbai office to pay off a Rs 250 crore debt, reports

Pooja Entertainment head Vashu has sold his office to a builder who plans to build a luxurious residential project.

This weekend, many people who had earlier worked at Pooja Entertainment, owned by Jaccky Bhagnani and Vashu Bhagnani, took to social media to call out the production for non-payment.

Just a few days after these messages, a report in Bollywood Hungama said that the production house has sold their seven-floor office to clear off their Rs 250 crore debt.

The production house's last film, 'Bade Miyan Chote Miyan', was a major flop at the box office. And now the reports further suggest that Pooja Entertainment is also going to cut down on its operations.

According to the report in Bollywood Hungama, Pooja Entertainment head Vashu has sold his office to a builder who plans to build a luxurious residential project.

According to the report, Vashu Bhagnani has shifted operations to a two-bedroom flat in Juhu and has fired almost 80 percent of his staff. The cost cutting had started happening in January, and staff was reduced from April after the debacle of Akshay Kumar and Tiger Shroff's starrer 'Bade Miyan Chote Miyan.'

Bade Miyan Chote Miyan was made on a massive budget of Rs 350 crore, and it managed to earn a mere Rs 59.17 crore.

A source told Bollywood Hungama, "It all started with Bell Bottom, which was one of the first Hindi movies to be released in theaters post-COVID-19 pandemic in 2021. The film flopped badly at the box office, as did the next one, 'Mission Raniganj'. The company faced another setback when the big-budget 'Ganapath' failed to perform and was even rejected by Netflix despite an acquisition deal. Red flags had already begun to appear in the company's financial sheet by this point, and the enormous investment in 'Bade Miyan Chote Miyan' made matters worse."

According to a source from the industry, “Even still, the firm held out hope that the action entertainer starring Akshay Kumar and Tiger Shroff would turn around its financial situation. However, the historic failure of this Ali Abbas Zafar directorial almost crippled the company. Vashu had no choice but to sell the building to pay off the enormous debt.”.

The report now says that Vashu and his son Jackky are working on trying to revive their company.

“I have already started discussions with actors and directors for a fresh slate of movies.”.

Jackky is going to start work on reviving 'Ashwatthama' with Shahid Kapoor.

Earlier this week, Ruchita Kamble, who had once worked at Pooja Entertainment, took to Instagram and wrote a long post about non-payment.

She wrote, “I'm not the one to ever make such posts, but sometimes people need to be ousted! Seeing my team and the crew I worked with struggle day in and day out to just get hold of our own hard-earned money has compelled me to make this post. Read the sheer frustration of these young girls, who have beautifully stated the absolute disregard @pooja_ent has and the sheer unprofessional, unethical behavior that we all have been tolerating for way too long.”.

Pooja Entertainment was set up in 1986, and under its banner, many hit films like Coolie No. 1, Biwi No. 1, Rangrezz, Shaadi No. 1, and Jawaani Jaaneman were made.