Sunday, April 29, 2001		Bollywood Bhelpuri

IF Anupam Kher is a hassled guy these days (losing whatever few hairs he still has on his pate!)... well, he certainly isn’t displaying his nerves by chewing his nails off! On the contrary, he’s gone ahead with the (re) launch of Om Jai Jagdish which he is directing for producer Vashu Bhagnani, by signing on beautiful, beauty crown winner Diya Mirza.

If you’re unaware how the trouble began in the first place, well, let me give you the (dirty) dope. You see, Tabu was the original choice, along with Mahima Chaudhary and Urmila Matondkar as the lead female brigade. And Anupam was still in the middle of his first shooting spell when, on the fifth day, Tabu failed to turn up on the sets! Yes, without as much as a by-your-leave, she had walked out of the film... with her signing amount, costumes et al. Imagine that!

A visibly upset Kher said to the assembled mediapersons: "What Tabu has done is simply not done. It’s one of the most unprofessional, unethical and unpardonable acts I have ever come across — especially from a senior actress like Tabu. Vashu and I will definitely be taking strong action against her erring, wrongful and highly irresponsible wayward ways..." And the show goes on, folks!

Physically unavailable for comment, I was (finally) able to speak with Tabu over her mobile, briefly, because she was obviously in no mood to give her side of the story and clear the controversy.......

"What controversy? I’m not aware of any... and I haven’t done anything wrong or unprofessional. Why don’t you ask Anupam and Mr Bhagnani why I was forced to leave Om Jai Jagdish, huh? Why they kept on delaying everything... wasting my precious dates in the process! Look, if their script and screenplay was constantly undergoing one drastic change after another, where was the need for them to take the film to the sets... and start shooting erratically, to say the least!"

Okay, it’s true — the trade reports about Abhishek Bachchan’s new (est) film Shararat, are getting better and better with every single day! As a matter of fact, certain distributors ‘n’ exhibitors are so tremendously impressed with the exciting way the movie has turned out, that they’re willing to wager that the release of this AB film will go a long way in resurrecting his earlier starrers, as well!

Without doubt, Shararat has an unusual storyline: An aggressive young man with a devil-may-care attitude, is compelled to live in a home for the old, aged and sick... for a month. And each day is a terrible torment as well as an extraordinary experience for him. (Some of Abhi’s angry outbursts have to be heard and seen to be believed. And if, director Gurudev Bhalla would like to take the credit for the same, well, we really shouldn’t deny him something so searing......