Ghai yells at Kareena, Shahid

Ghai yells at Kareena, Shahid

Orders them back at the venue after they left the 36 China Town party without promoting the film

Ram Kamal Mukherjee

An unexpected turn of events at the music release of Mukta Art's latest venture 36 China Town, led to Subhash Ghai losing his temper at his film's biggest stars.

Ghai had organised a lavish function for the music launch of his film. The entire cast, including Shahid Kapoor, Kareena Kapoor, Akshaye Khanna, Payal Rohatgi and Upen Patel, attended the music launch. It was a grand event with live performances by debutant Upen Patel and singer Himesh Reshammiya. The performance was followed by the audio CD release.

However, immediately after the launch, Shahid and Kareena did a disappearing act from the venue, leaving media persons waiting for them. An eyewitness says, "They posed for photographers and then left the venue, even while Akshaye Khanna and Upen Patel were talking to the electronic media. Subhashji was left looking around for them among the crowd."

Incidentally, Shahid had come all the way from his location shooting for Sooraj Barjatiya's Vivaah, in northern India, only for a day. The couple probably wanted to spend some quality time together, since he was in town only for a day.

When Ghai was informed that both his stars had left the venue, he lost his cool and immediately called Shahid. "He asked both Shahid and Kareena to return to the venue, in a very harsh tone. They were forced to come back pronto," says our source, who heard Ghai yelling at Shahid.

Didn't Ghai scream at them, saying, "How can you just walk out like this? You are not working in any B-Grade film. This is Mukta Arts and I expect little more professionalism from you both?"

Ghai however denied this. "How can I say that to my actors?" he said. "I made the call in front of my directors Abbas-Mastaan and the other actors. I was tense, so I might have screamed at them. But Shahid and Kareena are like my children. I may scream at them, but I care for them too. I am fond of both of them. They both were sweet enough to come back and complete the interviews."

"Yes, I did ask Shahid and Kareena to come back immediately to the venue because they had left just after the music release, without giving any interviews to the electronic media," continued Ghai. "However, I don't blame them for it. It was actually the fault of my manager and the anchor person who announced, 'Now everyone please join us for dinner.' Shahid and Kareena had already told me that they wouldn't be able to attend the dinner since they had prior commitments. So, on hearing the announcement for dinner, they must have thought that the press meet was over. When someone informed me that they had left, I immediately called them and asked how they could leave without talking to the electronic media."