Friday Nov 16 3:13 PM
Yesteryears matinee idol and filmmaker Manoj Kumar is seething with righteous anger at the manner in which he has been caricatured in the Shah Rukh Khan starrer Om Shanti Om. In fact, the veteran actor is believed to be so angry that he wants to sue the filmmakers and SRK for defamation and a deliberate attempt to humiliate him.
The actor's anger stems from the scene in the film where his double is beaten up by police outside a cinema theatre when he lands up for a premiere as they fail to recognize him. The actor says that it is ridiculous to believed that the Mumbai police of the 70s would not recognize Manoj Kumar, when he was a star, and would go ahead and lathicharge him. The scene does not end there. It continues in the same vein inside the theatre as well. There are other references to him as well, which have not gone down well with the senior actor. Kumar insists that he is deeply hurt. In fact, he goes on to say that SRK has hurt his soul and alleges that it is a conspiracy to humiliate and ridicule him. He feels that it is not humorous but in very bad taste. According to Kumar, he had met Farah Khan a couple of months ago and told her that he would have gladly appeared in the film if she had approached him. It seems Farah told him that they were using a double to portray him in a scene for a film premiere of the 70s. He says that she was very respectful then. Meanwhile, Farah insists that there is no reason for Manoj Kumar to feel insulted as it was all done in good humour. She says that she is a Manoj Kumar fan and did not mean to show him any disrespect. The other director, who was spoofed in the film, Sooraj Barjatiya, has taken the joke on him quite well.