Jawed Sheikh and Anubhav Sinha

What happened to the Pakistani star Jawed Sheikh in Dus? Hadn’t he joined the vast cast in Calgary for what was described as a very special role? “Yes, he had,” confirms Anubhav Sinha. “We were very excited to have him. He’s a big star in Pakistan. And he would have certainly added inches to the film’s stature. Jawed did join us, and did shoot with us.”

So then what happened to his role? Jawed isn’t visible in Dus even in passing. Anubhav pulls out a shocker. “After I had nearly wrapped up my 65-day schedule I came to know that the raw stock was damaged. I still remember it was the last day of the shooting when I got a call from back home asking me to stop shooting with the raw stock in use?but it was too late. When we checked out the footage, we found quite a bit of it to be fogged. Jawed Sheikh’s role had suffered the most. Instead of rescuing his portions in bits and pieces I decided to do away with his role entirely. He’s too big a star in Pakistan to be seen in a minuscule role. His fans would have taken offence. But it’s pity that it didn’t happen.”

Last year Pakistani actor Muammar Rana had tried his luck in Shashi Ranjan’s Dobara. This year there was Meera making her doomed debut in Nazar amid a maelstrom of murky controversies. Says Anubhav Sinha, “Though I’d love to work with artistes in Pakistan I see no dearth of talent in Bollywood. I feel very lucky. After my last film, Aapko Pehle Bhi Kahin Dekha Hai, I could have been wiped out from Bollywood’s map. In fact, I was supposed to make the film with four newcomers for T-Series and Bhushan Kumar. But the project was taken over by Sunjay Dutt and then Nitin Manmohan. Before I knew it became larger than life.”

There were constant stories coming back from Calgary of the big stars’ dates going to waste. Sinha is nonchalant. “Yeah, for the 15 days that Sunjay Dutt gave us he had to sit idle for eight days. And Abhishek had to be idle for 10 days in Calgary. So what? These things happen. It was a huge film with a mind-numbing canvas. I still can’t believe I pulled it off. But believe me, I’ve gone through hell making Dus.” Fortunately, the slick flick has pulled through, thanks to the anticipatory wail of Dus bahaane kar ke le gayi dil. Sinha smiles. “Do you know it was an afterthought? My music directors Vishal-Shekhar suggested a hip- hop tune for the promos. Fortunately, my producer liked it. And we were on. And in spite of the flak, the film got a much better initial than many other big guns. I can’t complain. “But my final destination is the Kodak Theatre. That’s where the Oscar ceremony takes place every year.”