Bollywood Actor Akshay Kumar has been one of the finest and the most-popular actors around for over three decades. The actor was once involved with the now-defunct Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise Delhi Daredevils.
A book published on the life of Amrit Mathur, 'Pitchside: My Life in Indian Cricket', revealed the fiasco involving Delhi Daredevils (now Delhi Capitals). Akshay Kumar signed a three-year deal to promote the IPL franchise .
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What was Akshay Kumar's pact with Delhi Daredevils?
"Akshay signed a three-year deal with Delhi Daredevils to shoot promotional films, attend meet and greet events and make appearances at corporate events," Mathur wrote in his book, that is published by Westland Sport.
"Apart from Kotla act (he performed daring stunts), nothing much happened because DD didn't know how to leverage him. At the end of the season, during elaborate post-mortem held against backdrop of serious financial losses, DD decided to cancel or renegotiate the contract." Mathur went on to write how it became an unprecedented fiasco.
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How did Akshay respond to the request of the IPL Franchise?
Mathur mentions in his books that there was no exit clause in the contract, and the contract had to be fulfilled for the complete duration. In fact, Akshay was entitled to ransom bonuses at the end of each year for the complete duration of the contract.
"Akshay's contract provided no exit; on the contrary, it gave him solid guarantees for a period of three years. DD's lawyers approached Akshay's staff, wanting to revisit the contract, but they made no headway", stated Mathur in his autobiography.
"The (legally correct) response from his side was that contract didn't factor in early termination and it has run its course with full monetary compensation," added Mathur.
Delhi Daredevils had lost the financial battle, and losses meant that the actor was seen as an overhead expense for the franchise. At this moment, the team turned to Akshay Kumar for an unofficial solution.
"After the shot, we returned to his vanity van and I, very hesitantly, explained the reason for my visit and outlined DD's financial troubles," recalled Mathur.
"No problem ji, he said in a sympathetic manner. If it's not working, let's close it. I thought I hadn't heard him right", Akshay said diligently.
"Seeing my confused look, he clarified slowly, 'Isko khatam kar dete hain (let us end this)'. When I mumbled about the stringent contract clauses, he reassured me, 'Koi baat nahin, main lawyer ko bol dunga (No problem, I will tell the lawyer)'." Mathur was left bewildered by the behaviour of the superstar actor.
Mathur said Akshay Kumar, who could have thrown the contract paper to the Delhi Daredevils. Instead, the actor chose to write off the money completely.
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