Sushant Singh Rajput’s demise has opened a can of worms. Conjecture has been that the actor parted on unpleasant terms with production house, Yash Raj Films after they pulled out of Paani, to be directed by Shekhar Kapur and which lead to SSR losing a lot of projects in the interim. In the past also it had been conjectured that SSR was unhappy with YRF promoting Ranveer Singh ahead of him. It was reported that SSR was the first choice for Sanjay Leela Bhansali's Ram Leela but Aditya Chopra hadn’t released him from the three-film deal with YRF and Ranveer Singh went ahead and grabbed the opportunity, being given an exception. Befikre was also supposed to be made with SSR in the lead but Aditya chose to do it with Ranveer instead.
Now, the details of SSR’s contract with YRF is out and it raises several questions. According to the contract, Sushant had a three-movie deal with Yash Raj Films. He was expected to get Rs 30 lakh for the first film and Rs 60 lakh for the second film if the first one was a hit. If the first film did not do well, then he would be paid Rs 30 lakh for the second. If both films emerged to be hits, he would get Rs 1 crore for the third. If the first film was a hit and the second one flopped, he would be paid Rs 30 lakh for the third. If the first movie flopped and the second did well, he would get Rs 60 lakh for the third. The reports further added that the Yash Raj contract mentioned it would be the production house which will decide if a film is a hit or a flop.
According to reports, Sushant got Rs 30 lakh for his first film with YRF which was Shuddh Desi Romance. YRF then gave Rs 1 crore to Sushant for the second film, Detective Byomkesh Bakshy. However, according to the contract, the actor was supposed to be paid Rs 60 lakh instead of Rs 1 crore for the movie. The reports added that when Mumbai Police questioned YRF about the same, they could not answer.
The third film Paani never happened and the incident is said to have caused considerable distress to the actor, according to Shekhar Kapur.
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