Sikhs love me so much that I'm said to be a half s

By Subhash K Jha

The fact that Anees Bazmi is not part of the sequel to his own successful Sardar saga Singh Is Kinng has not dampened the busy director's spirits at all.

At this very moment he is shooting the pre-climax song for his comedy No Problem on a set at Film City with his 17 principal male actors and 150 junior artistes, all dressed as Sadarajis dancing to a boisterous number entitled Mast Punjabi.

Says Anees, "The fun part of it is is, not a single principal actor or junior artiste is a Sardarji. They're all disguised as Sardarjis for a number that is my tribute to the community I came to love while making Singh Is Kinng.

The Sikhs too love me, so much so that I'm said to a half a sikh myself. I had to do something after Singh Is Kingg to show my love for that wonderful community. The climax of No Problem is my tribute to the Sikhs who keep urging me to do the sequel to Singh Is Kinng."

Anees admits there has been no feelers from producer Vipul Shah to do a sequel to Singh Is Kinng.

And only Vipul can tell why I haven't been approached to do Singh Is Kinng 2 when the entire concept look and execution of the first film is mine."

Anees says he would accommodate Singh Is Kinng 2 into his busy schedule even at this late stage if Vipul asked. Since Vipul is directing the sequel Anees whose affinity to the Sikh community is intense, decided to write the entire climax of No Problem as a homage to the Sikh community.

Every actor from Sanjay Dutt, Sunil Shetty, Akshaye Khanna and Anil Kapoor to Paresh Rawal, Vishwajeet Pradhan and Suresh Menon is dressed as a Sardarji.

"It's supposed to be a roadside Punjabi dhaba in South Africa. We've called it The Dhaba. All the 17 main actors and 150 junior artistes barring Vijay Raaz are Sardarji. And a sign on the set says "Punjab 0 Kms'. "

Adds Vipul Shah, "I've nothing against Aneesbhai. We did Singh Is Kinng amicably. But at the moment he's directing many projects. He's over-committed. When he did the first Singh film for me I was accused by producers of stealing him away from other projects. I don't want that accusation on my head again."