MUMBAI, June 11 -- Six months after Ranveer Singh ended his decade-defining casting as the next Don with a phone call, the bill has arrived, and the industry cannot agree on who should pay it.

The dispute between Singh and Excel Entertainment over his December exit from "Don 3," three weeks before cameras were due to roll, has hardened into a 45 crore rupee damages claim, audited by a Big Four accounting firm and covering everything from overseas recces to commitments made to more than 200 workers, according to detailed reporting by Variety. Singh's side offered 10 crore plus a discount on future Excel projects; the producers want cash.

This week the fight moved decisively into public. Poonam Dhillon, president of the actors' associatio...