Dippy has no remorse

Deepika Padukone’s decision to walk out of Race 2, after shooting for it for six days, has not gone down too well with producer Ramesh Taurani. Annoyed with the actress for leaving him in the lurch, Taurani lashed out at the actress, labelling her behaviour as “unethical, unprofessional and unacceptable”.

“I have been a part of the Hindi cinema industry for 25 years. I have made several blockbusters. I have worked with famous actresses like Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Katrina Kaif, Vidya Balan and Kareena Kapoor. But I have never faced a situation like this before,” thundered Taurani.

Deepika, it may be recalled, had signed Taurani’s project after an initial phase of indecisiveness. However, after the film went on floors, the actress upped and left leaving the Saif Ali Khan, John Abraham, Anil Kapoor, Sanjay Dutt, Amisha Patel and Jacqueline starrer in jeopardy.

“Earlier, in October, we had to change our schedule since Deepika had date problems. This was due to her film with Ayan Mukerji to be produced by Karan Johar. At the time, I had spoken to Karan and worked out a schedule that would help Deepika manage both the projects. Now, when everything is in place, she just walks out after six days of shoot. What can I say? We are left with no choice. Our directors and the other actors are extremely annoyed with her,” said the troubled producer.

Taurani, having adjusted his dates for Deepika, had even postponed the Turkey schedule to May-June for her. “She gave us 90 days. Fifteen days in February, 45 days in May-June and 20 days in July. We had assured her that we wouldn’t waste any of her dates,” explained Taurani.

However, on January 27, Taurani was in for a shock. “On that day, people kept calling me asking whether Deepika was out of Race 2. I was clueless. I called her and asked her. She simply said that she would come to my office by 5 pm with her new manager to work out everything.

At around 3 pm, she called to say that she wouldn’t be able to keep the appointment. However, her manager would be present on her behalf. Finally, when the manager arrived, he simply told me that Deepika wouldn’t be able to do our film. And that’s because she is doing a major Hollywood project. Now imagine!” Taurani shrugs.

Taurani did not give up on Deepika still. After she came back from LA, he went to meet her. “I went to Kurla where she was shooting. We tried to reason it out with her. But she refused to even listen. Forget about anything else, she did not even apologise for her action. She seems to have no remorse,” the producer says. To rub salt on sore wounds, Deepika announced that she would be doing Rajinikanth’s next film.

A visibly rattled Taurani hasn’t been able to decide on his next course of action. “We haven’t decided whether to take legal action against Deepika. For the time being, we are in the process of finding the right replacement for her,” said Taurani.

The actress’ camp however, had a different story to tell. When contacted, a close friend of Deepika complained, “Constant delays are the reason Deepika’s can’t do Race 2. When the first delay happened, she adjusted her dates and shot for two days. But then again, she was informed that the dates were being changed. She would have liked to do the film but she couldn’t accommodate the new set of dates. She has conveyed her apologies to Ramesh Taurani. She had liked the script but unfortunately is not being able to juggle her dates any longer.”