Actor causes panic on streets

Earlier this year, when serial blasts — at Zaveri Bazaar, Opera House and Dadar — shook Mumbai, debutant actor Harsh Parikh faced a peculiar problem

Earlier this year, when serial blasts — at Zaveri Bazaar, Opera House and Dadar — shook Mumbai, debutant actor Harsh Parikh faced a peculiar problem. While shooting for his debut film, Shakal Pe Mat Ja, Harsh claims he inadvertently created panic among people.

The story goes like this: Harsh was shooting in Andheri a week after the blasts when the entire city was on high alert. He was busy with a shot in which he had to wear a burqa. And by mistake, in the middle of the shot, he stepped out of the studio for a while.

Causing panic
“While I was walking outside the studio, I was also talking on phone. And since I was engrossed in my conversation, I mistakenly stepped on the main street. Thanks to the burqa, my manly voice and shoes, people on the street panicked,” he says.

Just as Harsh was returning to the studio, a police van stopped in front of him. “Four cops got out and took me in their custody. I was totally dumb-founded. I was
interrogated by them for half an hour,” he says, revealing, “I told the police that I was just an actor but they didn’t believe me because I wasn’t carrying my wallet or any ID card because I was in my costume,” says Harsh, who was later taken back to the studio.

“After talking to the director (Shubh) and producer Hrishitaa, they were satisfied that I was just an actor. But the people on street were alarmed. It was my mistake but not an intentional one,” says the young actor.