Ekta feels let down by Akshay Kumar?

Shaheen Parkar (MID-DAY; August 22, 2013)

After rubbing producer Farah Khan the wrong way after his last year€™s dud Joker, Akshay Kumar seems to have now rubbed off another filmmaker €" Ekta Kapoor.

B- Town is buzzing that Ekta who is seeing red over the release issues of her film Once Upon Ay Time In Mumbai Dobaara and its collections, feels let down by her leading actor Akshay Kumar. Hushed whispers doing the rounds is that she feels the star apparently gave up on the project on the eve of the release and started distancing himself.

Says a source, €œ Considering that Shah Rukh Khan was busy promoting Chennai Express even days after the release, she felt Akshay needed to be equally present every where. Initially he was greatly involved and gung- ho about the film. But a few days prior to the release of the film, especially once Chennai Express released and started steaming ahead, he seemed to have given up on OUATIM. His enthusiasm suddenly waned.€ What has greatly irked the producer is that he did not make any last- ditch attempt to salvage the film.

Adds the source, €œEkta felt when she needed him the most, he was not around. He moved on to his next project and did not even wait to see how the film was faring. It was as if he had washed his hands off the project. She feels if she had given a last shot it could have made a bit of a difference.€ Ekta however brushes off the buzz by saying, €œ Ha ha ha. It€™s not even remotely true. Akshay has a heart of gold and is a super guy.€ Incidentally, earlier Akshay was upset with Ekta after the entire drama during the IPL match in Kolkata. The actor along with co-stars Sonakshi Sinha and Imran Khan had travelled to the City of Joy only to return with despair, as they couldn€™t get any coverage on television.

He was made to attend an event that had specifically banned any film promotions in vain.

Earlier, the Khiladi had rubbed Farah Khan the wrong way when he did not promote her hubby Shirish Kunder€™s film Joker in which he was the hero. At that time, Akki was bugged by her decision to take the aliens ( that featured in the film) to Mannat to meet Shah Rukh Khan as part of the promotions for the film. He found this move strange as King Khan had nothing to do with the film.

The Khiladi apparently didn€™t take too kindly to this.