Movie financiers behind hit films including Bend It Like Beckham and The Bourne Ultimatum in battle over £1.6m debt

Mr Nayar, 61, was a producer on hit films including Bend it Like Beckham, starring Keira Knightley (Getty Images)

Two Hollywood financiers behind hit films including Bend It Like Beckham and The Bourne Ultimatum are locked in a feud over a £1.6 million debt, the High Court has heard.

Leon Clarance and Deepak Nayar have been at loggerheads for four years over the acrimonious end to their working relationship. Chartered accountant Mr Clarance, 46, was forced out of the production company he founded, Motion Picture Capital (MPC), after being accused of “misappropriating” money.

He has called his former business partners “unscrupulous” and believes they are trying to drive him into bankruptcy to stop him from properly settling the debt.

MPC is owned by Reliance, which has bankrolled movies including War Horse, Lincoln, and Bridge of Spies. Mr Nayar, 61, was a producer on hit films including Bend it Like Beckham, starring Keira Knightley, and Bride and Prejudice.

Cambridge-educated Mr Clarance, said he has strived through litigation to try to settle the debt, and believes his shares in MPC are worth more than $5 million.

However, he claims the company is trying to “stymie” his efforts to cash in the shares. MPC made a statutory demand for the unpaid money but that was blocked by a county court judge. However, High Court Judge Joanne Wicks this week allowed MPC’s appeal against that decision, sending the matter back to Reading county court to be considered again.

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