A few weeks ago, we had reported about Vikram Bhatt and his wife Shwetambari being arrested in a criminal breach of trust case, after the duo was accused of cheating a doctor of Rs 30 crore. Now, a fresh set of allegations of financial fraud have emerged against the director, this time from casting director Parag Chadha.
The casting director, who worked on Vikram’s 2023 film 1920: Horrors of the Heart, made a detailed post on his casting agency’s Instagram page, naming Vikram Bhatt alongwith director Krishna Bhatt and the production house and accusing them of failing to clear the dues of many crew members.
Explaining the chain of events and how he had been chasing payments for years without receiving any response, Parag recalled that the team was assured of due payments to be made once the film released in June 2023, adding, “We remained patient, trusting fully in stature of the filmmakers we were working with.”
Attaching screenshots of consistent follow-ups with Vikram Bhatt’s team, Parag wrote, “In February 2026, our entire payment still remains unsettled, the only response over the last few years has been ‘we don’t have funds’. Multiple cast and crew from the film remain unpaid.” The casting director also alleged that these payments were not cleared despite the Avika Gor starrer garnering over Rs 20 crore at the box office success. Parag has previously worked on films like Ek Tha Tiger, Band Baaja Baraat and Ishaqzaade.
Vikram Bhatt and Shwetambari Bhatt were arrested by the Rajasthan Police in December 2025 after a complaint was filed by Ajay Murdia, founder of Indira IVF and Fertility Centre, who accused the filmmaker and his wife of cheating him of Rs 30 crore, a sum they borrowed under the guise of producing a film.
