Landlord says she only rented the apartment next to Big B’s home, upset with her claims

Vickey Lalwani (MUMBAI MIRROR; August 15, 2012)

 

Amitabh Bachchan had a new neighbour —- Ameesha Patel. Well, almost. The actress had earlier gone to town, saying she’d purchased a 4,000 sq ft flat in Harsh Jyot Apartments in Juhu, right next to Bachchan’s bungalow Prateeksha. However, we’ve now learnt she’s been categorically told not to move into the premises by the owners, the Valias, who are shocked at the way Ameesha’s been telling people she’s bought the flat when in reality, she’s only taken it on rent.

A source in the know told Mirror, “When the Valias learnt about Ameesha’s impudence, they were shocked. How could she lay claims to their property, when they had only rented it out to her?”

Apparently, the Valias don’t want to sell their fifth floor flat, which they are reserving for their grandsons, who are presently quite young. Yet, when Ameesha announced she’d bought the flat, others (who believed her), who had earlier evinced interest in buying it from the Valias only to be turned down by them, confronted the Valias saying, “Seems, you relented to Ameesha since she is an actress while refusing to sell it to us.”

It is learnt Ameesha had paid Rs 5 lakh to the Valias as a token amount and they had allowed her to make the desired renovation. According to the source, she had appointed workers for the job and occupied the flat for three weeks. So, the token amount was taken care of.

The source said, “It was quite embarrassing for the Valias to tell Ameesha to drop the plan but eventually, they did. And Ameesha was heartbroken.” However, this was much later. The actress and her staff’s immediate reaction was to argue with the Valias saying, “We have done no wrong as such statements are common in the film industry” which further angered them, precipitating their final decision on the matter.

Even then, Ameesha went back to them after a few days, pleading they still consider renting out the flat to her.

According to the source, the Valias relented but then, Ameesha hasn’t gotten back to them till date.

When contacted, the head of the family, Harshad Valia, confirmed the developments. However, Ameesha, despite repeated attempts, refrained from comment.