Rakhi wants bedroom scenes

By: Upala KBR, Mid-Day
Tuesday, July 31, 2007
It doesn't take much to upset item-girl-turned-actress Rakhi Sawant, it seems. We're told she's hopping mad at producer-director Rahul Rawail for not using "bedroom scenes" of her in the promos of Buddha Mar Gaya, currently on air!

Says Rawail, "Rakhi is upset that I haven't used scenes where she seduces one of the protagonists into bed in the promos. Honestly, I don't know whether to be shocked or amused! This is the first time I've come across an actress who wants a filmmaker to show her bedroom antics on screen so brazenly, but then again this is Rakhi Sawant!"

Rawail says he doesn't want to use those particular shots as he doesn't want the film to be promoted as a 'sex flick'. "She called me and sounded upset but the bedroom scenes are not relevant to the promos. I explained to Rakhi that I didn't want to promote my film in this way. Rakhi's problem is that she's too simple and doesn't know what she's saying," he says.

In Buddha Mar Gaya, Rakhi plays a wannabe actress trying to make it big, much like her situation in real life. When we ask her if she fought with Rawail over the exclusion of certain scenes in the promos, the usually straight talker clams up, saying, "I haven't asked Rahul to put any sex scenes in the promos. That's his choice."

But Rakhi has certainly left her fiery stamp on the film. Says a unit member, "Barely four days after she joined co-stars Paresh Rawal, Om Puri and Anupam Kher on the sets in Hyderabad, she started telling people that now that she was here people were noticing that a film shoot was on. She claimed the rest were a bunch of retired actors!"

Rahul prefers a diplomatic stance to Rakhi's alleged misadventures, saying, "She is forgiven for saying that. She's a wonderful, clean-hearted girl. She has the best role in the film. The rest of the cast was apprehensive initially, but when she started shooting everyone was happy."

Rakhi laughs off the alleged put-down and says, "I respect these guys. Rahul would yell at everyone on the set, except me. I was quite concerned for his health as his paunch would start wobbling every time he would yell! Maine socha yeh buddha shayad na mar jaye (I was worried that this old man would probably die)!"

Rawail says Buddha Mar Gaya is a black comedy revolving around the death of a rich man (Anupam Kher). "Buddha Mar Gaya is about how the rich man's death brings out the greed in his family. Om Puri plays an in-house swami, Paresh Rawal plays the faithful domestic help Ramu Kaka, and Ranvir Shorey is the man who sells dead bodies. Anupam suggested we put a disclaimer saying: Watching the film is injurious to health. It's so funny that we hope no one dies laughing!" adds the filmmaker.