Big screen, small act!

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Wafa

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Posted: 18 years ago

Big screen, small act

Eight TV actresses are upset with Sanjay Leela Bhansali for treating them like lesser mortals. They accuse him of unprofessional behaviour and of wasting their time

Ranjib Mazumder

Director Sanjay Leela Bhansali, who is presently shooting for his ambitious project Saawariyan with Rani Mukherji and Salman Khan, has apparently upset a few actresses with his unprofessional behaviour.

Sanjay Leela Bhansali

Rani Mukherji plays the role of a prostitute in the movie. Besides Rani, eight other actresses (Nupur Alankar, Neha Bamb, Pravishi, Vibha, Sulakshana, Lata Haya, Anandi and Jyoti Dogra) were signed to play the role of other prostitutes. Working in a Bhansali project is a dream for many actors. Hence, these actresses rejected all other offers that came their way. They kept waiting to hear from Bhansali, but the call never came and eventually five of the actresses were rejected. Finally, Bhansali shot his scenes with Nupur Alankar, Pravishi and Vibha.

Bhansali's unprofessional behaviour has hurt them immensely. Sulakshana, who plays Kanta in Aruna Irani's Doli Saja Ke, says, "We were signed for this project in January and we were informed that the entire sequence would take 29 days. When the shoot was about to begin, we kept receiving text messages saying that we weren't required on the sets. It continued for some time. After a few months, we got a message that we weren't required at all. It left us shocked."

Rani Mukherji

The production house had taken their costume measurements and they rehearsed for a couple of days. "I sacrificed my television serial dates for the sake of Saawariyan. It was very unprofessional on their part as we lost both, time and money," she added.

Lata Haya, another actor signed for the movie says, "They told us that we would shoot at Karjat and other studios, but it never happened. At the end of it, we lost out on time, effort and money. It was frustrating."

After six months into the agreement, the production house realised the need to negotiate with the three actors. They ultimately agreed to negotiate because they were keen on doing Bhansali's project