arjun plays a 70 years old man

Arjun Rampal

But when Rampal developed a skin inflammation thanks to the mask, he refused to bear the inconvenience. Instead, he left the cast and crew in the lurch by storming off the set, leaving the schedule in May 2006 incomplete.

It is learnt that the film's producer and director Mitra tried their best to coax Arjun back to the set but he did not relent. A unit member says Rampal ripped off the prosthetic mask that was the cause of his inconvenience and stormed out of Hotel Horizon (Juhu), where they were shooting.

Meanwhile, co-star Abhay Deol had no choice but to stare wide-eyed at the commotion that prevailed.

'Rash' behaviour

A source from the unit says, "Arjun had a scene with Abhay on that day, but from what one could understand, the prosthetic mask created quite a problem for him.

Apparently, Arjun developed some sort of rash on his face after putting it on. He got stressed and irritated, took off the mask and simply refused to shoot after that point."

Producer Nilesh Dadhich further explains, "The mask was necessary otherwise Arjun wouldn't have been able to pull off looking like a 70-year-old simply with white hair.

We had to use the prosthetic, but it's understandable if one gets stressed wearing it. Wearing prosthetics in Indian climate and that too for an extended period of time is very tough."

Meanwhile, director Mitra was keen to finish off that day's shoot, pack up and return home to London for other work. Moreover, Mitra knew that Arjun had given the coming days to Farhan Akhtar's Don and wouldn't be free for a long time, but Arjun refused to budge. He was in no mood to wear the mask again so soon and had to rush to Malaysia for Don.

Eventually, the shooting was stalled. The shot was finally canned eight months later in December 2006, when Mitra returned to India!

Unprofessional

When contacted in London, Mitra confirmed that Arjun indeed had problems while shooting in May 2006.

Said Mitra, "I came back to India in December simply to shoot that unfinished scene. I had no choice. I had to come, as I am the film's director. I was not going to lose my head because some actors tend to go over the top.

It would have been great if we had finished the shoot that day itself, but the producer took a call as Arjun had developed a rash, so I didn't insist. Anyway, all's well that ends well."

Arjun Rampal was unavailable for comment.

Meridian, which will release in India under the title Char Raaste, stars Irrfan Khan, Konkona Sen Sharma, Soha Ali Khan, Raima Sen, Arjun Rampal and Abhay Deol.