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The feud between the Excel Entertainment and superstar Ranveer Singh is growing louder than ever coming at the cost of Excel Entertainment owned by Farhan Akhtar. What was initially a creative backlash over the put-on hold of the planned Don 3, has now escalated into a battle of bank accounts, where it is reported that Excel has gone on the offensive to intimidate Ranveer by coming after his next planned big budget film, Pralay.

Multimedia sources and reports by other media organs such as The Indian Express claim that the co-founder of Excel, Ritesh Sidhwani, last month approached the production house that is financing the shoot when writing films like Pralay, Birla Studios, asking it to cease investment and postpone the shoot of the film until the dispute between Don 3 and the company is adjudicated. The action is regarded as a tactical scheme in order to compel a resolution to the current compensation lawsuit.

The main problem can be dated back to the departure of Ranveer as Don 3 was reported out of the movie towards the end of last year, when the movie was already in deep pre-production. Excel accuses of huge-scale losses in sunk costs such as writing the script, scheduling, planning and commitments of the team members. They required Ranveer to pay them to the lost opportunity resulting in the downsizing of the banner and mediation by the Producers Guild of India.

Ranveer has vehemently objected to the demand saying that he never got any signing amount or advance pay. He referred to previous events, such as one year in shelved Baaju Bawra by Sanjay Leela Bhansali without payment, and even, although Hrithik Roshan denied that he was approached, he mentioned that Excel could have taken his place. To him, the project did not actually take off because they were not fast enough on their part.

That said, with Pralay, a zombie-action thriller directed by Jai Mehta and pronounced as one of the biggest ventures Ranveer has taken post-Dhurandhar success, about to have a hefty budget (estimated to be as well as 300 crores including funding commitments), the intervention by Excel has apparently been able to turn Ranveer to mellow. Claiming that the expenses are incurred by the Excel to break down the Don 3 expenses, the actor is reported to have now requested an audit of its expenditures to ascertain the losses.

The industry has its eyes on the industry as negotiations go on with the help of Producers Guild. This documentary play illustrates dangers of making large commitments in Bollywood, creativity conflicts can soon turn into financial wars and put dreams to bed like Pralay and challenge loyalties. Will they be resolved to a compromise, or will the standoff of 40 crores of the local currency sabotage more than one movie?