Hema drove him to a shrink

When director Mayur Puri began working on Hema Malini’s production Tell Me Oh Khuda in 2009, little did he know that he’d end up in a legal battle for credit, and would have to resort to psychiatric help for severe depression.

When director Mayur Puri began working on Hema Malini’s production Tell Me Oh Khuda in 2009, little did he know that he’d end up in a legal battle for credit, and would have to resort to psychiatric help for severe depression.

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A source close to the director revealed that after shooting 80 per cent of the film, Hema Malini fired him due to “creative differences”: “He was fired in May after the crew finished filming in Goa. Hemaji was upset with him for not giving enough screen time to Esha. She has also told him that his name will not be on credits; he is so depressed that he is seeing a psychiatrist now.”

Puri confirmed the news, adding, “Yes, I was fired, but I am bound by a contract which does not permit me to speak about the film till its release.” While Hema Malini confirmed that she would be shooting the remaining part of the film, she refused to comment on Puri’s allegations. “I will not be re-filming anything, I will only be directing what is left. But, I don’t want to talk about why I fired Mayur. We’ll talk about that later, when the time is right.”

The source added that Puri was being harassed throughout the shooting and did not get his payments as writer and lyricist, even though the script was his own.