Manoj Bajpai Upset?:

By Bollywood Hungama -

February 7, 2003 - 12:00 AM IST

Another controversy doing the rounds is that Manoj Bajpai is upset with the makers of PINJAR for giving more prominence to Urmila Matondkar in the publicity of the film. According to grapevine, the rift between Manoj and the makers of the film came to the fore when the latter brought out an album-type booklet that focussed on Urmila more than it focussed on Manoj. As a result, Manoj had decided not to dub his portions till matters were sorted out. Dismissing the allegations as baseless, Dr. Chandraprakash Dwivedi, director of PINJAR, clarified that Manoj had been co-operation personified throughout the making of the film. He's been with us from Day 1. There were no differences not on the script level, not during the shooting period. In fact, he has already completed his dubbing, so the question of harassing us doesn't arise, he clarifies. Manoj echoes similar feelings when I call to verify facts. I fail to understand how this news originated. I presume, it all started this way. I got a call from a journalist the moment I wrapped up my dubbing of PINJAR. The caller asked if I was upset with the makers for giving me a raw deal and whether it was true that I had decided against dubbing for the film. Ironically, I was still in the dubbing studio premises when this conversation took place. From the very outset, I knew what my role was and what I was required to do in the film. I was never kept in the dark. I enjoyed shooting for the film and I'd like to believe that Dr.-saab [Dr. Chandraprakash Dwivedi] enjoyed directing me. He's a 'detail-centric' person and though shooting some portions in the film was indeed taxing, the effort has been well worth it. As long as it looks good on screen, that's all that matters. Right!