Everyone
is
talking
about
Upen
Patel's
daredevil
act
at
the
Zee
Awards
at
London
on
Saturday
evening.
Speaking
from
London,
Upen
explains,
"I
was
actually
asked
to
step
into
Salman
Khan's
act
at
the
last
minute.
Believe
it
or
not,
I
had
just
one
hour
to
rehearse!
One
hour!
I
don't
know
how
I
managed
it."
But
the
response
Upen
got
from
his
fellow-Londoners
was
unimaginable.
"London
is
my
home.
And
to
perform
there
was
a
dream
come
true
for
me.
My
mom,
my
sister
and
my
entire
family
watched
me.
They
had
a
planned
a
lavish
act
with
Salman
with
motorbikes
on
stages
and
everything."
So
what
gives?
"Salman,
I'm
told,
couldn't
come
for
his
performance
because
of
a
torn
ligament.
I
happily
agreed
to
be
a
last-minute
replacement
because
I
didn't
want
them
to
incur
losses.
Why
wouldn't
I
want
to
step
in
for
Salman?
He's
a
rock
star.
Besides,
they
altered
Salman's
act
to
suit
my
personality.
Initially,
I
was
supposed
to
dance
to
two
songs
from
Partner.
But
when
I
stepped
in
they
re-structured
the
intro
with
bits
of
my
songs
from
36
China
Town
and
Shakalaka
Boom
Boom
to
begin
the
act."
Earlier
Upen
was
supposed
to
be
part
only
of
Shahrukh
Khan's
act.
"He
did
a
kind
of
Om
Shanti
Om
with
a
gender
reversal
where
instead
of
all
the
heroines,
all
the
heroes
joined
him
on
stage.
I
was
only
supposed
to
be
part
of
that.
But
thanks
to
Salman,
I
had
two
acts,
one
for
myself
and
one
with
Shahrukh.
The
press
here
in
London
has
gone
ballistic
over
my
act.
I
can't
get
over
it."
And
all
because
of
Salman's
unpredictability!
Story first published: Friday, May 2, 2008, 14:09 [IST]