It makes sense that this actor did what this blind item is saying he did. Since he was publicly questioned at the trailer launch of his film months ago, he will do anything to avoid the same thing from happening again.
Now bear in mind, this actor is just taking care to protect his big-budget film and his image as a star. If you think by now actors care about these things or about a woman’s security on the show, you are wrong!
He is just taking the needed measures to ensure that his film doesn’t end up in a ditch. Technically, this is what happened to the Chopras when they didn’t take immediate action as soon as they received that complaint about their favorite director. They waited for an official investigation to be conducted and by that time, the person involved went to the media and let everything out.
So by taking this action, this actor is saving his own film and his career. Seriously, though. You think he didn’t know that this director was a creep and predator before he signed him on? Hard to believe!
Check out the blind item from PinkVilla.
Bollywood Blind Item
ACTION HERO replaces newbie DIRECTOR with himself in a WAR drama because of Me Too allegations!
The news is quite shocking, even after months. After a strong Me Too movement swept Bollywood, one would expect people to change but it hasn’t much. After many complaints against the newbie director of a war drama-biopic, finally the lead actor and action hero, decided to take matters in his own hands and unofficially fired from the movie. Now the super star will complete the project himself.
It’s one of the most expensive war dramas ever mounted with a multi-starrer cast. While the first schedule got completed relatively smoothly at a set constructed in a studio, the second was a long and extensive one, in a remote village. The shooting started and quite a few action sequences were shot till allegations of the director came in.
It was ignored by the production unit till some female assistant directors decided to take matters in their own hands and directly approached the male lead. The allegations were serious – as they told him that they didn’t feel comfortable around the director and explained why. It wasn’t only the female AD’s but some of the other female subsidiary cast too, whom the director, apparently had also approached.
The actor, known to be intelligent and level-headed, quietly decided to do some investigation on his own. He didn’t consult the production team or anybody remotely connected with the director, but called in his own production team from Mumbai, whom he trusted implicitly.
They spoke to the women concerned and reported back that it was true. There were other concerns as well, which the action hero had been hearing about, but the Me Too allegations were more than serious enough for the male super star to take immediate action.
Known for his straight talk and fiery temper, the male super star summoned the director to his room one night and gave him the firing of his life. The director was told in no uncertain terms to take a backseat now from the war saga as the top male star would take over and direct the project now as he didn’t want to take any more chances of the project falling into more trouble.
The star is a director in his own right and is known to take over the reins from other directors and ghost direct himself, when he is unhappy with the way something is going. Only a handful of people were present in the room (who were strictly told not to discuss the issue outside) and know about this. The female leads had completed their shoot and gone home or it would have been an even bigger issue!
Apparently, the project is already in trouble with allegations of the script being produced by someone else. A young director had approached a top production house with the script a few years ago but it fell through because of lack of stars. That script was more heroine-oriented with the male lead in the periphery.
The project was ultimately shelved till the new war drama was announced recently, with the action hero as the main protagonist and the women as side characters as the script was completely changed. Sounds familiar? In recent times, another movie ran into trouble because of similar allegations as one of the actresses had apparently taken it to a different producer.
OSOP Guesses
Film: Bhuj: Pride of India
Superstar: Ajay Devgan
Director: Abhishek Dudhaiya
The film will recreate the 1971 Indo-Pak war. It stars Ajay Devgn as its lead, who will be seen essaying the role of Squadron Leader Vijay Karnik. He, accompanied by 50 air force and 60 defence security personnel, reconstructed the IAF airstrip at Bhuj. The team convinced around 300 women from a nearby village to help them rebuild the airstrip so that a flight carrying Indian Army officers could land safely.