Naman, Bindu yet to encash their Bollywood ka ticket

It’s been nine months since television heartthrob Naman Shaw and model Bindu Chowdhury won Balaji Telefilms reality show Bollywood ka ticket but the duo is yet to encash this grand prize – a maiden Bollywood flick. The film, titled Gen Next that was to be co-produced by Suneil Shetty’s Popcorn Entertainment Pvt Ltd and Balaji, and directed by Apoorva Lakhia, is yet to take off. That has cast a serious doubt over the future of the film. We contacted both Bindu and Naman and they too sounded unsure of the film. “Yes, the film is yet to take off. I reckon recession has delayed the project. I haven’t heard anything for a while. But I’m hopeful the film will eventually take off,” said Shaw. Meanwhile Bindu Chowdhury had this to say, “It’s disappointing that the film hasn’t taken off. While the show was on, we were told that the shooting for the film would commence a day after winning the contest. Apparently, I had heard that Balaji and Popcorn had parted ways. May be that has affected the film. I’m still hopeful that the film will take off but even if it didn’t I won’t be left dejected.” Adding further, she says, “Getting a break in Bollywood is never easy and especially for someone like me. I’m thankful to Balaji for having provided me such a platform. By God’s grace, I’ve never been short of work. I earn my bread through ads. Eventually, I’d like to do a film and I’m confident something or the other will come my way.” Director Apoorva Lakhia initially told us via a text message that the project has been put on hold. When asked about the reason for it, he replied,”You’ll have to talk with Balaji. I’m not associated with the project anymore.” We called at the office of Popcorn but no one came forward to speak on the subject. After much persuasion an official, requesting anonymity, merely said, “You need to speak to Balaji for this. After all, it was their show.” The official refused to comment when we asked whether there’s been a breakdown in their relations. We tried contacting Ekta Kapoor and even sent her a text but she didn’t reply.