Dawn Images

Urwa Hocane has responded to a legal notice sent to her by actor Sonya Hussyn over a “breach in contract” for Tich Button. Sonya said she was not paid her contractual dues as the lead actor. Now, when asked about the notice in an interview, Urwa said she had no idea about it in the first place.

Urwa, the producer of upcoming film Tich Button appeared on Express TV’s The Talk Talk Show on Sunday where she was asked about the film, her experience as a producer and, most importantly, the legal notice she was sent by Sonya, one of the four lead actors of her film. “I’m not aware of this at all,” said Urwa.

When the show host pointed out that she is the only producer to have received the notice, Urwa said, “I’m a call away. We should speak to each other and find out. I’m not aware of this at all and I feel that there must be some sort of misunderstanding because we’re all professionals and we’re all mature enough to know that you don’t sabotage a project like that.”

She added that, as a team, it took time to add final touches to Tich Button two years ago, during the pandemic, and then they weren’t able to release it. She hoped that Sonya understands that a lot of hard-work went into making the film and getting it released. “I feel this is a misunderstanding,” she said.

What happened

In the legal notice dated October 22 and shared with Images, the Saraab actor’s legal team addressed the matter by reminding Urwa that she “entered into contractual relations” with their client. “Under express terms and conditions”, she agreed to pay Sonya a certain amount upon completion of the shooting, which began on February 2, 2020 and ended on June 5 the same year.

The notice states that even though Sonya performed her part of the contract “in exceptional circumstances” such as the outbreak of Covid-19, she was not paid her due “despite repeated requests and reminders” accounting for a “breach in contract”.

It noted that after quite some time, “in stark convention and blatant violation of contract”, the Meri Shehzadi actor “fraudulently” attempted to pay Sonya Rs500,000. The Mohabbat Tujhe Alvida actor returned that cheque and “unequivocally refuses to be a prey of [Urwa’s] fraudulent scheme,” according to the notice. The legal document also mentioned that Sonya is now demanding the payment that was agreed upon in the contract, which is “still outstanding”.