Gaurav’s got to go!

Gaurav Chopra's tantrums on the sets proved costly and how! He's out of Filmy's Jigar Ma Badi Aag Hai

RANJIB MAZUMDER

Gaurav Chopra has just paid a heavy price for throwing tantrums. The actor, who was doing Filmy's Jigar Ma Badi Aag Hai, has been ousted from the show at the last moment. And the reason is obviously his unreasonable tantrums! Now, the channel has replaced him with Sachin Sharma.
Jigar Ma Badi Aag Hai marks the return of the famous onscreen couple of Neena Gupta and Kanwaljeet. The show is a comedy and Gaurav was playing an important role in it. Says a source, "When Gaurav signed the show, he did not have any problems with the show. It was just a day before the shooting, when the creative team had a meeting with Gaurav. Suddenly, he started acting very weird. He had numerous problems with the script and wanted it to be re-written. He could not stand the fact that Neena Gupta has a prominent role. It was really funny watching Gaurav fight over the issue of Neena's screen space and he in fact wanted Neena's lines changed."
Needless to say, Gaurav's unreasonable behaviour did not go down well with the creative team. Next, Gaurav started complaining about his pay packet. "Being an actor, one should not interfere with the job of creative team. It's not an actor's job to decide what is the script should be. Coming to his pay packet, we were giving him more than his market price (more than what he is getting Left Right Left). Still, he wanted more money which was illogical. So, the channel has shown him the door in no time. Sachin Sharma was obviously happy with the role and he settled for lesser money than Gaurav," adds our source.
When contacted, Aamir Rizvi, creative head of Moving Picture Company (producer of the show) said, "The channel was dealing with Gaurav. He shot the pilot and we were about to go on floors. But, in between he had certain issues and things did not work out the way it was expected. The shooting was on Thursday and we met Sachin on Wednesday who was quite enthusiastic about the show. So, he came in the picture."
Gaurav, when contacted also confirms the news that he is no longer doing Jigar Ma Badi Aag Hai. "I was supposed to do it, but I could not manage it. There were some problems and things did not fit into the scheme of things," he explains.
When asked about being thrown out of the show, he flatly denied it and gave us the standard excuse of date problems - "I was interested in the project, but didn't have clear dates for the show. So, I had to opt out. Now, I am busy with so many projects that I did not have dates for it. Moreover, in Left Right Left after Rajeev Khandelwal's exit, the entire focus is on me. So, I am quite busy now," he adds.

(Article from Mumbai Mirror..23rd August)