MUMBAI: Son of Late B R Chopra and nephew of Late Yash Chopra – Ravi Chopra and his family have put on sale four of their properties for failing to clear debts amounting to Rs 32 crore, say reports.
2012, the Bombay High Court had ordered that seven properties owned by the Chopra family be sold off to pay their debts if the family misses the April 15, 2013 deadline. Thus, before the scheduled court receiver took possession of the properties this month, the Chopra family moved court seeking urgent orders to dispose off their properties. Justice S J Kathawalla allowed the family to immediately dispose off four properties – a 1,600 sq ft flat at Sterling Apartments in Worli, the bungalows Garden Homes I and II in Khar, and the tenancy rights of one of their office premises (totaling to an approximate Rs 38 crore.)
The 66 year old ailing Ravi Chopra, reportedly owes 26 creditors of B R Films and B R Television. The “secured creditors” – Kotak Mahindra Bank and Cosmos Bank would be the first to be paid from the sale proceeds, revealed representative to Ravi Chopra, Advocate Sharan Jagtiani.
But apparently the sale will not bring to an end the woes faced by the family. Whilst clearing off debts of the other creditors, currently the Chopra family is contesting Viacom 18’s Third-Party claim for Rs 15 crore with interest, for a movie production deal gone wrong. The iconic BR House bungalow in Juhu, sources say, has been placed as surety against the claim.
B R Films which produced memorable hits like as ‘Naya Daur ‘(1957), ‘Sadhna ‘(1958) and ‘Humraz’ (1967)… last produced ‘Baghban’ (2003) starring Amitabh Bachchan . Post that, sources reveal that the production house never recovered from the subsequent flops – The debts mounted, the cheques issued bounced and the court cases piled up.
