Abhay Deol is peeved over reports of a spat with his Shanghai director Dibakar Banerjee that ended with him walking out of the film’s wrap-up party.
The actor admits that he’d wanted Dibakar to enjoy the evening. "I kept telling him to chill but he was too wound up over post-production. So I had my fun and left," he shrugs nonchalantly. "Like an old married couple, he and I have the silliest of fights. In this case, the publicist thought it would make for a good story and played it up."
Abhay has just seen the rough, preliminary edit and insists Shanghai doesn’t need this kind of negative publicity: "Both Dibakar and I have our fan following, who are intelligent enough to want to see the film without having to be lured by concocted controversies."
The tiff was presumably sparked off because Abhay didn’t like co-star Emraan Hashmi getting more attention during a Latur shoot, along with extra footage and an item song.
He’s more amused than annoyed, “You think I would fight for a song? Ridiculous! I’m already doing an item number in Rock The Shaadi. The trippy track fits into Navdeep Singh’s movie seamlessly, but in Shanghai, you cannot make my character sing and dance, no matter what the situation. And you think I’d be insecure about a co-star getting attention? When I start Rock The Shaadi, they’ll be saying ‘Abhay’s jealous of the zombies."
He insists that like with his Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara (2011) co-stars, Hrithik Roshan and Farhan Akhtar, there’s been absolutely no stress with Emraan. “He’s a chilled-out dude who, like me, has never had issues with anyone,” asserts Abhay. “And while Dibakar and I knew each other from Oye Lucky! Lucky Oye! (2008), Emraan was new to the team. He was always polite and professional. We have just one scene together and when I saw him in get-up, I said, ‘Wow!’ Sometimes, stars can get a little larger-than-life, but Dibakar has a way of making us more real. He turns actors into characters who drive his story.”
Abhay informs that Dibakar had sketched the story of Shanghai for him towards the end of Oye Lucky! Lucky Oye! And he gave his nod without even reading the script. “I finally read the draft a few days before we were to start shooting and I was like, ‘Hey, this is awesome!’” he recalls. “In a six-year career, I’ve just made 11 movies and Dibakar is the first director I’m working with again. Doesn’t that say it all?”
He’s more amused than annoyed, “You think I would fight for a song? Ridiculous! I’m already doing an item number in Rock The Shaadi. The trippy track fits into Navdeep Singh’s movie seamlessly, but in Shanghai, you cannot make my character sing and dance, no matter what the situation. And you think I’d be insecure about a co-star getting attention? When I start Rock The Shaadi, they’ll be saying ‘Abhay’s jealous of the zombies."
He insists that like with his Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara (2011) co-stars, Hrithik Roshan and Farhan Akhtar, there’s been absolutely no stress with Emraan. “He’s a chilled-out dude who, like me, has never had issues with anyone,” asserts Abhay. “And while Dibakar and I knew each other from Oye Lucky! Lucky Oye! (2008), Emraan was new to the team. He was always polite and professional. We have just one scene together and when I saw him in get-up, I said, ‘Wow!’ Sometimes, stars can get a little larger-than-life, but Dibakar has a way of making us more real. He turns actors into characters who drive his story.”
Abhay informs that Dibakar had sketched the story of Shanghai for him towards the end of Oye Lucky! Lucky Oye! And he gave his nod without even reading the script. “I finally read the draft a few days before we were to start shooting and I was like, ‘Hey, this is awesome!’” he recalls. “In a six-year career, I’ve just made 11 movies and Dibakar is the first director I’m working with again. Doesn’t that say it all?”