Katha mein twist

By Bollywood Hungama News Network -

January 2, 2015 - 10:16 AM IST

A new guy is all set to step into Farooq Sheikh's shoes for the remake of Katha. Even though barely a couple of days remain before the film goes on floors, a crisis situation has erupted, what with director Khalid Mohamed deciding to replace his first choice Sohum Shah with Manish Paul (Mickey Virus) who has been roped in to play the part that was immortalized by Farooq Sheikh.

"It wasn't an overnight development though," informs our source, "With every passing day, critic turned filmmaker Khalid had started getting unsure of the actor's ability to deliver. Even producer Anjum Rizvi, who has worked with the likes of Naseeruddin Shah (A Wednesday) and Randeep Hooda (John Day) had started wondering if it was a good decision after all. On Tuesday, they took a mutual call and called it a day."

The development wasn't without its fair share of drama though as Khalid went on to realize that Sohum's PR team was in the process of rolling out an entirely different version to the media as per which it was Sohum who had decided to drop out of the film. This is what fired up Khalid due to which he took on to Facebook and rolled out an angry post.

While he called Sohum a 'manipulator' who was a 'totally clueless actor', he went on to share anecdotes around how the Ship of Theseus actor wanted a song by Yo Yo Honey Singh to be picturized on him and insisted on wearing his own garish costumes. He further gave a detailed account of how the actor was unprepared for rehearsals and further compared him with KRK as far as acting is concerned.

When contacted, Anjum Rizvi confirmed the developments. He said, "Yes, what Khalid is saying is right; we couldn't have really progressed further with Sohum." A source close to him did add that there was a lot to be desired as far as getting the right 'sur' for the part that immortalized by Farooq Sheikh who played a street smart flirt in the Sai Paranjpe film.

Meanwhile Khalid is disappointed that Sohum Shah was lying about his exit from the film in order to save face. However, wishing him luck, he did hint that the film was on track for January 2 kick-start, as he had found a 'far superior and dedicated' actor.

Anjum too said, "It won't harm the film's shooting schedule as Sohum's scenes were planned for a later date. We would be beginning with other two actors, Mohammed Zeeshan Ayyub and Sharmila Mandre (who step into Naseeruddin Shah and Deepti Naval's shoes), first."

How about the time, energy and money lost in prepping Sohum for the part during last few weeks? "Well, this is filmmaking, it happens. We have to be prepared for such uncertainties," he shrugs away.

On the other hand, Khalid had already approached Manish Paul during auditions and after Sohum's exit; the filmmaker had emailed the script to the actor. After receiving a positive response from Manish, they decided to lock the final cast of the film.

The makers are planning to complete the shoot of this remake by mid-February.