Arshad walks out of Umrao jaan

Arshad walks out of Umrao Jaan

Chooses Circuit of Munnabhai sequel over Gohar Mirza in J P Dutta's period film

Ram Kamal Mukherjee

It was a difficult decision, but one that had to be taken. After much procrastination, Arshad Warsi has walked out of J P Dutta's Umrao Jaan, choosing Rajkumar Hirani's Munnabhai Meets Mahatma over it. The actor was supposed to play Naseeruddin Shah's character from the Muzaffar Ali 1970's classic in Dutta's remake.

The film also stars Aishwarya Rai as Umrao and Abhishek Bachchan as her love interest. Says Arshad, "I am not doing Umrao Jaan anymore. The only reason why I agreed to play a cameo in J P Dutta's film was because I really wanted to ogle at Aishwarya Rai," he laughs.

But jokes apart, Duttaji is a wonderful director and he even wanted to accommodate me. But things did not work out. The choice was between Munnabhai Meets Mahatma and Umrao Jaan. I was in a fix. I tried hard to adjust my dates, but nothing could be done. I am grateful to Vidhu and Raju for giving me a chance to be part of the sequel to Munnabhai MBBS. I owe them a lot for Circuit's character, which made me famous. If I had to choose between Umrao and Munnabhai, I would opt for the latter, which I did eventually," says Arshad.

Besides choosing not to play Naseeruddin's role in Umrao Jaan, Arshad was replaced by Jimmy Shergill in Shah's directorial debut What If? Is Naseer jinxed for Arshad? "Hey man, I never thought about that. I think something is going wrong between Naseer and me, first it was his film and now it's his role," he says.

Currently, Arshad is shooting in Afghanistan for Kabir's film Kabul Express. The film also stars John Abraham. "The film is about two journalists from India. I can't reveal the plot, as we are under contract with Yashraj Films. But I guarantee you that the film will rock," he adds. After the completion of this film, Arshad will be joining the unit of Munnabhai Meets Mahatma in Mumbai. "I play the same character Circuit, but the story and plot is completely different. I am looking forward to meet the entire unit. But I am sure that we'll miss Sunil Duttji during the shooting schedule. He was such a perfect gentleman. I would also love to work with Vidya Balan; I think she was fantastic in Parineeta. For me, Munnabhai will be like returning home after a year long vacation," says Arshad.


• The only reason why I agreed to play a cameo in J P Dutta's film was because I really wanted to ogle at Aishwarya Rai
– Warsi