Film featuring Alok Nath struggling to find distribution, producer says it's unfair

Mumbai: Producer Imran Khan says his upcoming project “Main Bhi”, featuring Alok Nath as a judge, is struggling to find a distributor as no one wants to touch the film owing to the rape allegation against the veteran actor.

The producer claims some distributors along with his publicity partners are shying away from the film as Nath’s image has been “tainted”.

“I shot this film much before the #MeToo allegations and his ban came up. My film was complete in July. I’ve been trying to release the film since February.

“My publicity and advertisement partners, who had given me the word to pump in money for release, have now backed out. There are distributors I know who aren’t ready to take it,” Imran told PTI.

The TV actor-turned-producer said, “I wish they let the court take its course. If I had made the film after his accusations and the ban, then I can understand.”

Imran said the film’s chances of getting a release was damaged further due to the controversy surrounding “De De Pyaar De”, which also features Nath.

The producers of the film, headlined by Ajay Devgn, came under fire from Tanushree Dutta, who had kickstarted the #MeToo movement in India, for retaining portions of Nath, shot before the allegations surfaced.

“Because of the Ajay Devgn controversy, it has fanned the fire. The industry will be different to me and to Ajay. He is a big shot producer and has his own distribution. Things aren’t the same. I didn’t expect people who were helping me to distance themselves because of this issue.