Sunny Deol's 'Mohalla Assi' in dues row
While the Sunny Deol-Sakshi Tanwar-starrer Mohalla Assi might finally see the light of day in July, the issue of non-payment of dues to Italian translator Dr Michela Gemito continues to surround the film and has reached the Embassy of Italy in New Delhi.The Embassy has written a letter dated April 24, 2013 (a copy of which is with PT), asking producer Vinay Tiwari's production house to apprise them of the reasons for non-payment of the sum of `4 lakh as per the contract agreement.Michela, a PhD scholar of Indian literature and culture, had translated author Kashinath Singh's book Kashi Ka Assi on which the film is based. "Due to non-payment of the fees, a legal notice was sent by my lawyer last year but it produced only a denial from the production house that I was never employed or involved with the film," she said in a statement.Thus Michela has now approached the Embassy. Producer Tiwari said, "Yes, we have received a letter and my legal team will reply to it. I have no knowledge about who called her and we have no contract with her. We have asked her to show us the contract but she hasn't."When contacted, assistant director Nisheeth Chandra said, "I signed the contract with Michela as director Chandra Prakash Dwivedi asked me to since he was not present." Dwivedi too added, "I know Michela and yes, she has acted in the film."