Hrithik Roshan, Kangana Ranaut
Pictured: Hrithik Roshan at a product launch; Kangana Ranaut at an airport.Varinder Chawla

The Hrithik Roshan-Kangana Ranaut controversy makes for a juicy gossip column piece, but one of the stars involved is having to pay a heavy price for it. The "Mohenjo Daro" actor's endorsement fee has apparently been slashed.

A popular suitcase brand has revised Hrithik's contract, and the new pay is lesser than his previous package, SpotboyE reported. That's not the end of it, sources say some companies have refused to rope in Hrithik for their product campaigns. The setback stems from the recent scandal he has courted, which has reportedly made him unfit for a family audience.

Meanwhile, here's a lowdown on what caused Hrithik and Kangana's sly mud-slinging.

Earlier this year, Kangana reacted to the news of her being ousted of "Aashiqui 3" by taking an indirect jibe at Hrithik. She told Pinkvilla that the "lame rumours" are coming from an "ex" who has been doing "silly things" lately.

To this, Hrithik retorted with an even controversial tweet: "Ther r more chances of me having had an affair with d Pope dan any of d (Im sure wonderful) women d media hs ben naming.Thanks but no thanks."

This incident was followed by a few days of quiet and peace, until a friend of Kangana's revealed intimate details from the couple's courtship days. The friend told the Mumbai Mirror that the actor had proposed to the "Tanu Weds Manu Returns" star in Paris, assuring that it wasn't a classic case of rebound (Hrithik had just split from his wife Sussanne Khan at the time).

The war escalated to a legal one and the stars began slamming one another with notices. Last heard, Kangana was apparently willing to go for an out-of-court settlement.

"Withdrawal of notice is the best and only option. Deviations and an attempted trial by media as a face-saving tactic, may even worsen the case as it would eventually create interference in the process of delivery of justice and constrain my client to retaliate unnecessarily, [sic]" the Press Trust of India quoted Kangana's lawyer Rizwan Siddiqui as saying.