Baweja: I am free to voice my grievances

Harry Baweja is livid with Sunny Deol for the latter's refusal to acknowledge that he is playing a full-fledged role in Baweja's forthcoming film, TEESRI AANKH. "He issued a statement in the media that I was misleading the audiences. In essence, he is the one who is trying to mislead the audiences. He is the hero of my film, though the agreement mentions that he is playing a guest appearance but I worked with him for 19 days during which I managed to get 30 days work from him. It took six and a half years and a lot of mental torture before I got those 19 days from him," Baweja says.

Is Sunny upset with the way the film has shaped up? "Not that I know of. On the contrary those who will see him in the film will also be confused why he is doing so, when he has such a promising role in the film," Baweja says.

In the film, Sunny plays the role of a crusader who busts the mobile camera scandal and comes to the rescue of the affected. "The film deals with the nuisance value of the hidden camera in mobile phones that can play havoc with people's lives. It sends a strong message asking people to beware of this menace lest they become a victim," says Baweja, who admits to being thrust into action when the mobile camera mania first started surfacing a year ago. "The media and satellite reported shocking incidents of victims of mobile cameras at that time and that was what prompted me to write a story on the subject," he reveals. That was also the time when Sunny Deol finally decided to give him dates after a long wait. "I took the decision of casting him in an all new contemporary role other than the roles he has played so far of shouting over the roof tops," recalls Baweja.

According to Baweja, he signed Sunny Deol for a film that he was planning almost seven years back in August 1999 and paid him a huge signing amount, after which the latter promised him immediate dates. However he points out that the dates never seemed to materialize. "He kept dodging the dates. He would promise me dates after six months and then back out. Finally good sense prevailed on him and he decided to give me dates for a film one fine day. Now that he has finished work on the film, I am free to voice my grievances, In fact, he is the sole reason why I have directed only two films in these seven years," Baweja claims.

On the other hand, he is confident that the film will give Sunny's career a new impetus. "It is a unique role and anyone in his place would have been happy about it," he says. The surprise packet of the film however is Amisha Patel, who will be seen playing the role of a mute girl in the film and was last seen with Sunny in the super-hit GADAR-EK PREM KATHA. "It is a role that Amisha has justified to the hilt. Like all my earlier films, TEESRI AANKH also falls in an experimental genre of sorts with the unique characterization that I have achieved for both Sunny and Amisha in the film," he says.