Blast From The Past: When Tabu Walked Out Of Anupam’s Directorial!

Tabu  can be very mercurial.And who  knows this  better than me?! She  took an immediate dislike  to  me after our first  interview where I unwittingly quoted a line she  says she asked me  not to.One line, that’s all it took.

 Wonder  what  Anupam Kher did  to  piss  off  Tabu!  But  he never directed  any film after she  walked  out  of his one and only directorial  venture   Om Jai Jagdish in 2002, and that too  at  the eleventh  hour.

Anupam’s set, a beach house where the entire family of mom Waheeda Rehman, sons Anil Kapoor, Fardeen Khan, Abhishek Bachchan and daughters-in-law  Tabu, Urmila Matondkar  and  Tara Sharma were to assemble for family film.

Except that Tabu  fled  , leaving Anupam high and dry.  I remember  he  was so upset that he  could barely control his anger and he swore  he  would never  work  with Tabu again. And he  has kept his word.

The  frantic effort to find  a replacement at  the  last minute  was  an  ordeal that Anupam is  unlikely to forget  in a   hurry.No prominent actress had  the dates  to give at the last minute. Finally, Anupam convinced   Mahima  Chaudhary to  jump into Tabu’s place.

 As  for directing  another  film Anupam says,  “I’d rather  get my molar extracted  without anesthesia.  Less painful, less expensive and far quicker.”

Ouch!