Anirban Das (MID-DAY; May 20, 2016)

The shoot of Prakash Raj’s Hindi directorial debut in Goa was apparently disrupted to an extent when lead actor Ali Fazal claimed to be sick and decided to fly out to Delhi for rest. However, the actor’s appearance at the premiere of Aishwarya Rai Bachchan and Randeep Hooda-starrer Sarbjit here on Wednesday evening has set tongues wagging.

A source says, “Ali was supposed to shoot throughout the week, but he felt unwell on Tuesday and went to Delhi the same day. He is slated to join the unit tomorrow.” His co-stars, Tapsee Pannu and Shriya Saran, however, continued shooting for the light-hearted comedy tentatively titled Tadka. “He was down with fever for a few days, but his condition aggravated, and the makers allowed him to take rest. Tapsee and Shriya are completing their portions,” adds the source.

When we got in touch with Ali, he said, “I guess the air of Goa didn’t agree with me. I was shooting when I was unwell, but then I had to take care of myself. I flew down to Delhi to take rest and recover. The shoot had to be paused and I am resuming the shoot on Saturday.”

How did he make it to the screening of Sarbjit, looking “hale and hearty”, as some people have put it? Ali says, “I was in Mumbai for just one evening. I had to be there at the screening since Richa (Chadha, who is part of Sarbjit) is a good friend.”