'Aakhri Sach' producers Preeti Simoes, Nikhil Nanda in legal battle. Details

His FIR (a copy of which the publication has) states that Preeti and Neeti cajoled him into investing in the production house solely, post which they cheated him of the said amount. It also mentions how the sisters fraudulently promoted the project as 'the absolute owner' of the web series.

"I filed a report two months back and the investigation is in process. After the FIR, the legal proceedings will happen in due course. I am hoping that after this, it is established that they cheated us of the money, cheated us of credit by asking certain celebrities to talk about the show as their show, and also establish that they had zero contribution in terms of investing and even creatively," Nikhil Nanda said.

When we reached out to Preeti Simoes, she, however, had a different story to state. The creative honcho, known to have put on many comedy shows, shared how they partnered up with Nikhil Nanda as they knew his wife, a government officer. She has now filed a case against him for not sharing details of the bank account and expenditures. Simoes also informed that several team members have also filed a case against Nanda for non-payment of dues.

"We realised he was a scam when we started getting emails from vendors about not being paid. Given that many came on board because of us, we felt like it was our responsibility and thus questioned him, but he kept a stoic silence. Since then, he has not only not paid us and the team but also made false allegations about every team member to escape making the payments. He first begged and then threatened us to make our celebrity contacts mention him on social media. He is a serial defaulter and even uses his wife's position to threaten people," Preeti Simoes told India Today.

She added, "This FIR he has forwarded says that we did not give him any credit. Anyone can switch on the show and see his name as producer and even as an 'actor'. Secondly, I am his partner. I am not supposed to give him any credits, the platform is supposed to do that. Finally, he said that we have not paid him money, whereas we have already filed a case against him stating that he is not disclosing any accounts for the expenditure done for the show."

In the FIR, Nikhil Nanda also named Rahul Jha, the post-production head of not handing over the footage. In a statement, Jha shared that these are false allegations to harass professionals and avoid payment. "We worked so hard to ensure a timely delivery of the show. I am shocked at how he has filed this complaint so that he doesn't pay my dues. The IP of the show is with Hotstar and only they have the right to have the footage, not us."

Preeti Simoes also added that despite this being a civil case, Nikhil Nanda filed a criminal FIR to intimidate them. She shared that it was them who were cheated, and they are ready to fight it legally. On the other hand, Nikhil Nanda too symbolised that, just like the title of the show, he has faith in the justice system to bring out the final truth of this case.