Amisha Patel,
Amitabh Bachchan, Anand Raj Anand, Ashutosh Gowariker, Bikram Saluja
Dino Morea, Ehsaan, E Niwas, Hrithik Roshan, J P Dutta, Karan Johar,
Kumar Gaurav, Loy, Mahesh Manjrekar, Madhur Bhandarkar, Rohit Roy,
Sanjay Dutt, Sanjay Gupta, Salman Khan, Shankar Mahadevan, Sohail Khan,
Sushmita Sen, Tusshar, Udit Narayan...
The above is not an exhaustive directory of the who's who of Bollywood.
It is an excerpt from the list of 150-odd stars and directors on a mass
bunk from work - to attend the India International Film Academy
awards (IIFA) in Genting Highlands, Malaysia. Bollywood is running dry -
drier than the bars of Mumbai.
Film City, the most popular studio in Goregaon with over floors, has no
film shoots lined up for three days since Friday. Not that the employees
are on strike or there's been an electricity failure at the complex.
Basically, there are no stars left in Mumbai to shoot films in this
studio. The otherwise busy Film City has on schedule Sampoorna Ramayan,
a television serial, besides a couple of ad-films.
Mehboob Studios in Bandra on the other hand now has only a photo session
lined up. "No films here for three days," confirms the
spokesperson of the studio. Reason? "Film line hai, kuchch
bhi ho sakta hai," he laments. Filmistan Studios in Goregaon
has only one film shoot, that of Suneel Darshan's Talaash .
Kamalistan, another prominent studio in Goregaon is busy as well with
television serials. But it fares better than most other studios. It has
two film shoots lined up for the weekend - Pran Jaaye Par Chawl
Na Jaaye (produced by Mahesh Manjrekar) - and Sunny Deol's
home production - the film on Bhagat Singh - starring Bobby
Deol, who incidentally hasn't taken the weekend break, unlike the rest
of his fraternity.
Usually these studios are packed with film shoots with around 15 to 20
shoots taking place in Mumbai.
Well, Salman Khan and Kamaal Khan did not miss the plane really, but
having reached the Sahar Airport decided to go back home for some
reason. Nobody's quite sure why. But they were to leave again on a
flight on Friday night.
Sanjay Dutt, on the other hand, left no stone unturned to get away. He
is in Malaysia on a special permission obtained from a designated TADA
judge to attend IIFA awards, on the condition that he be back before
April 9.
Mahesh Manjrekar, yet another of the Kaante heroes is joining
the team a little later than planned. The electricity went off while he
was shooting for Pran Jaaye Par Chawl Na Jaaye at Kamalistan
Studios and Manjrekar was delayed. He is expected to join the Malaysian
exodus soon, while Pran Jaaye... continues to shoot.
No wonder, no stars, no shoots and no 'action' in Mumbai, for three
days.
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