Actor Ashmit Patel said that Mallika Sherawat smartly stole the limelight away from both himself and Emraan Hashmi during the promotions of their film Murder.
But, he discovered that Bhatt was involved in projecting Mallika as the face of the film.
He also recalled an incident on set, when Mallika apparently accused him of choking her during a scene.
He said that Bhatt was called, and that he was told to apologise to Mallika.
But that’s the game.” Advertisement Murder was released in 2004 and made Emraan and Mallika overnight stars.
Actor Ashmit Patel said that Mallika Sherawat smartly stole the limelight away from both himself and Emraan Hashmi during the promotions of their film Murder. He said that she was keenly aware of how to play the ‘PR game’, and had a personal publicist years before the concept became commonplace in Bollywood. She also knew exactly what to say, while both he and Emraan were sidelined during the publicity tour.
In an interview with Siddharth Kannan, Ashmit said that he got an inkling of what was going on, and expressed his feelings to producer Mahesh Bhatt. But, he discovered that Bhatt was involved in projecting Mallika as the face of the film. He also recalled an incident on set, when Mallika apparently accused him of choking her during a scene. He said that Bhatt was called, and that he was told to apologise to Mallika. But he said that she was lying, and demanded that the shot be reviewed on the monitor.
Also read – Emraan Hashmi admits he ‘made enemies’ after controversial Koffee with Karan comments about Aishwarya Rai: ‘I just wanted to win the hamper’ Advertisement He said, “Our characters were in a marriage of convenience. I tried to do some method acting, and tried to keep some distance from Mallika’s character. So, when she tried a couple of times to break the ice with me on set, I was a little bit distant. I wasn’t trying to be cold, but I wasn’t trying to be friendly so that I could keep that tension between us personally, so that it would translate on camera. Maybe she didn’t understand that, or maybe I should’ve told her, or Anurag Basu, the director, to convey this to her…” Recalling the incident, Ashmit said, “There was one scene where I had to choke her. I’d asked Naseeruddin Shah once what the correct way to choke someone on camera is, and he’d shared a technique with me where it would look like you’re putting in all your power, but not actually harming your co-star. But after the shot was cut, she made a little bit of an issue out of it. Bhatt saab came to speak to me and told me to apologise to her. I said, ‘But I didn’t do anything. Let’s go watch the monitor, and if you feel I choked her, I’ll apologise. But if not, then she must apologise to me’. I didn’t get an apology…” Also read – Emraan Hashmi says Mahesh Bhatt told him he’d ‘throw’ him out of his debut if he was ‘bad’, details his birth as ‘bold’ star: ‘Its business not charity’ This tension seemingly carried onto the film’s promotions, during which he was separated from Mallika, who was paired with Emraan. “She was very ahead of her time, she knew how to play the PR game, and she took away a lot of the credit for the film, which neither me nor Emraan nor Anurag Basu get… During promotions, I was sent to the not-so-big publications, which left a bad taste in my mouth, it upset me a little bit. But that’s the game.” Advertisement Murder was released in 2004 and made Emraan and Mallika overnight stars. It was also a box office success, and has spawned two unrelated sequels. Ashmit appeared in a several films, but became more well known for his reality show appearances.
Click for more updates and latest Bollywood news along with Entertainment updates. Also get latest news and top headlines from India and around the world at The Indian Express.
