Akshaye Khanna has found himself back in the spotlight following his reported exit from Drishyam 3. Adding to the conversation, writer-filmmaker Manish Gupta—who collaborated with Khanna on the 2019 courtroom drama Section 375—has spoken openly about his difficult experience working with the actor.
Manish Gupta opens up about his fallout with Akshaye Khanna
In a recent interview with Bollywood Hungama, Manish Gupta reflected on the challenges he faced during Section 375. According to him, the problems began after Akshaye Khanna had already signed the film, agreed on his fee, committed dates, and accepted an advance.
Gupta claimed that Khanna then became unavailable for nearly six months as he chose to work on The Accidental Prime Minister. When he eventually returned, Gupta alleged that the actor asked for a revised fee of ₹3.25 crore instead of the previously agreed ₹2 crore.
But the disagreements didn’t stop there. Gupta further alleged that Khanna wanted greater creative control over the project. Since Gupta was both the writer and director at the time, this led to growing tension on set.
“Because it hurt Akshaye’s ego to take instructions from an authoritarian director like me, he began pushing the producer to remove me and hand over complete control of the film to him,” Gupta claimed.
Director replaced, legal notices followed
Eventually, producer Kumar Mangat Pathak agreed to the actor’s request, and Gupta was replaced as director by Ajay Bahl. The filmmaker said this decision was deeply upsetting, especially since the project was built on years of his work.
Gupta also alleged that his bound script and hard drive—containing nearly three years of pre-production material—were taken from him, prompting him to send two legal notices to the producer.
Despite the fallout, Gupta acknowledged Akshaye Khanna’s talent, while expressing disappointment over the situation. “Akshaye is undoubtedly a brilliant actor,” he said, adding, “I am only pointing out what I felt was a lack of ethics.”
The controversy sheds light on how creative clashes behind the scenes can sometimes overshadow the final product—and how even successful collaborations can leave lasting scars.