It’s a full-blown war between Zareen Khan and the producers of Aksar 2, among whom is Varun Bajaj, son of producer Shyam Bajaj. Last week, there were reports of Zareen being mistreated by a mob, during the promotions of Aksar 2, as the filmmakers had not bothered about her security.
However, last evening, the filmmakers reacted strongly to the rumours and said in a statement:
“Zareen Khan and her team approved the entire tour schedule provided to them two days before the departure. She backed out of all her commitments leaving aside the press conference and a sponsor visit. She did not even complete a day of promotions, which troubled the makers to a point where they had to compensate a huge amount of money and were harassed and threatened till the wee hours of the morning. The bit about her almost getting molested, is absolutely untrue, as she left the venue throwing tantrums arguing with the sponsors as she did not want to stay or eat there. She left with four bodyguards and her manager in tow. She sat in the sponsor’s car who she had shouted on and had an argument with. The sponsor withheld the key of the car, but the makers arranged for another car and sent her and her team to the hotel safely, after which she left for Mumbai without informing the makers. This is not the first time that Zareen has troubled the filmmakers. She has put them in a fix many a times and made them suffer losses.”
For starters, she says that she was disgruntled with the makers from the beginning itself. She was told that Aksar 2 would be a very clean film. However, it was not the case.
“They wanted me to wear minimal clothes in every frame. Of course I will raise questions and put my foot down na? Why was this masala being added? Were they not confident about what they had made till then?” she asked.
She said she did not walk away from the film, as she did not believe in such drastic measures.
“I tried to find a middle solution, but every time there were arguments. Every day they wanted a change in my clothes; they wanted me to change into something very irrational, something that would make me expose,” she added.
Zareen was upset with how certain scenes were shot, as they crossed the line from sensuous to vulgar.
“The kissing scenes were increased without any rhyme or reason,” she said.
About the promotions disaster, she explained, “They had over-committed to the sponsors and hadn’t briefed me! Look at the miscommunication! They took me to a venue where I was told to do interactions while the makers were busy eating food and drinking beer. Raat bhar khao, daaru piyo (eat all night and drink)- but is this the way you treat a lady?
Nobody came down to see me off till the car, and while I was on my way down they tried to stop me. When I reached the car I was supposed to travel in, I realised that they had frisked the keys before I got into it.”
However, she clarified that she did not get molested.
“The security was minimal and the crowd came very close to me on the road. Now who says that I was molested as their messages read? I was on the verge of being molested. I could have been molested. Somehow I told the security guards to give me their car to reach the hotel. And mind you, the security was hardly any. I reach the hotel and this so-called producer Bajaj comes and demands to know that who will pay the sponsors because I did not fulfill my assignment to the end? As I said I was not even told what I was supposed to do, leave aside if I was comfortable doing that or not – so how could I fulfill?” she asked.
She ended the conversation by saying, “I worked so f***ing hard on Aksar 2 and got ill-treated. I am not saying that I am some sati-savitri but the insertion of content was supposed to be by mutual consent. I can take them to court. I have the relevant papers. And now, the makers are trying to save their a**es. I hope I never see them again in my life.”
Aksar 2, which stars Gautam Rode, Zareen Khan and Abhinav Shukla in the lead roles, released last Friday. The film is a sequel to Aksar (2006).
