Akshay-Deepika doing a Shoaib-Sania?

By Subhash K Jha

This has to be the most uncanny co-incidence ever to have happened in Hindi cinema

Just when we have Pakistani cricketer Shoaib Malik being accused of bigamy on the eve of his wedding to Sania Mirza, there is Sajid Khan's Housefull coming up witn situation that bears an uncanny resemblance.

In the comedy Akshay Kumar's wedding to Deepika Padukone is rudely interrupted by a woman, played by Jiah Khan, claiming to be his wife.

When questioned about the similarity Akshay Kumar says, "I never thought of it. Now that you've pointed it out I guess there's a resemblance. Actually I've three women claiming to be my wife in the film."

But the actual sequence where Akshay's wedding to Deepika is interrupted is too close to the happenings in the life of the Pakistani cricketers and Indian tennis player to be a coincidence.

Protests the director Sajid Khan, "What can I say, except that this is a case of life imitating art? We do have a sequence where Akshay's wedding is interrupted by a woman claiming to be his wife.

Compounding the similarities with the real-life situation which are grabbing headlines is the fact that the first wife's claims are not as simple as they seem.

But I repeat the similarities are coincidental. I wrote my script two years ago."

Be as it might the similarity between Shoaib Malik's and Akshay Kumar's predicament seem to be a case of perfect timing.