Chaya Unnikrishnan (DNA; February 19, 2014)

Nine years after penning the acclaimed hit Page 3, for which she won the National Award, Nina Arora scripted Heartless that went with a whimper. Ask her what went wrong and Nina says she is puzzled! However, she insists that though it was a wipe out in its first week, it is still running in a couple of theatres.”I don’t think we failed in getting the message (anesthesia awareness) across, but we didn’t entertain the largest number of people. It got sandwiched between Gunday and Hasee Toh Phasee and had to be pulled out. However, I do not regret it as I enjoyed the working process,” says Nina. But what took her so long to pen another film after Page 3? “After Page 3, which was an insider’s kaleidoscopic experience, I got several offers to write... another Page 3, but I had said whatever I wanted to in that film. I would have loved to work on a feel-good movie for KJo or YRF but they weren’t exactly beating down my door so I wrote for TV instead,” she admits candidly.

In 2010, she got a call from Shekhar Suman to script Heartless that is inspired from the English film Awake. “Initially, I was reluctant because I thought it will be a small film, but Shekhar persisted and told me a short fable about a mother-son relationship, which touched me. He then made me see Awake, but except for the plot about anaesthesia awareness, everything is original,” says Nina, who is already onto her next project, a film on political exposé and a TV show, which will be a contemporary slice of life in the metropolis.

Priya Gupta (BOMBAY TIMES; February 11, 2014)

Adhyayan Suman was earlier dating Kangana Ranaut for a year in 2009-10. While Adhyayan made some good and some not-so-good choices early in his career, he has bounced back in his father’s film Heartless, which has been critically appreciated. In an interview to Bombay Times over a month back, Adhyayan, talking about his co-star Ariana Ayam, had said, “She studied with me in New York. She is an Afghani who is a New Yorker. In this heartless world, she is selfless and she is a friend who has been there for me and my father and has helped us at a time when we were unable to find a girl of our choice for the film. I had directed a short film with her in it and showed it to my father, who loved her. She has come to India, leaving her life in the US to be in the film.”

We have learnt that Adhyayan and Ariana are in love with each other. Confirming the same, Adhyayan said, “We have been together for almost four years, but I was not comfortable talking about it earlier. She is a selfless and unconditional lover, without whom I would have probably have felt lost in the world.”

While Ariana may have thought of returning to the US post the film, we will wait and watch how this current couple’s life will turn in the future.

Sonu Nigam fast getting to be out of work as all his songs are being re-recorded
Bharati Dubey (MID-DAY; January 30, 2014)

Owing to his stance on the music royalty issue, songs composed with Sonu Nigam are being re- recorded with other singers now. So while the singer’s voice has been edited out of songs in David Dhawan’s film, Main Tera Hero, word has it that his songs in the films Kick and Heropanti too will be re-recorded with another singer. The singer says that he is not aware about being replaced in songs for the latter two films. He said, “I don’t know who has sung my portion but I will not do something that is illegal. I have been fighting this injustice all along and change can be brought about only if others join me in this fight. I am not scared of being out of work because eventually good sense will prevail."

Both Bhushan Kumar and Ekta Kapoor, co-producers of Main Tera Hero, refused to comment. When contacted, the former asked us to get in touch with the film’s producer while Kapoor denied knowledge of any such development. It may be recalled that Nigam was recently replaced by Mohit Chauhan in Shekhar Suman’s Heartless.

Faced with such opposition, it seems that Sonu has found support in Subhash Ghai. The filmmaker, who is reviving his music label Mukta Music with his forthcoming film Kaanchi, has asserted that he will follow the copyright law and share royalty where it is due. When asked whether he will allow Nigam to collect royalty for his songs, he was diplomatic about it. “I am going to study the law and will do everything in keeping with legalities.”

When contacted, Sanjay Tandon, managing trustee of Singers Association of India, expressed anguish over Nigam being replaced for having taken a stand. “Producers and music companies are using such tactics because they don't want to adhere to the law. If this continues, we will be forced to take legal action against them,” he said.

Priya Gupta (BOMBAY TIMES; January 7, 2014)

Adhayayan Suman, 25, is emotional, sensitive and incapable of manipulation. Much like his father, he can’t forgive and forget and can be blunt at times. The struggle to make Heartless a reality, has taught him patience. He is aware that Heartless must work, but also believes somewhere deep in his heart that it will work, as he feels God has a plan for him given the impediments in the film over the past three years. Over an hour-long conversation with Bombay Times, he talks about his unrelenting father, his selfless friend Ariana and what he secretly prays to his dead older brother Ayush every night. Excerpts:
 
You debuted at 20 and then went missing. What happened? I was born and brought up in Mumbai, but sent to London to study at Millfield school when I was in Class 8. This was 2000 when I would have to go with a gunman to the classroom as my dad was under severe threats from the underworld. In London, I took to doing theatre and Shakespeare in a big way. It is one of the finest schools in the world. I had the most amazing experience of my life. After London, I went to the New York Film Academy and did my diploma in direction. From the time I remember, I wanted to be a star but I loved food, as a result of which I was 5'11'' and 125 kgs. I could eat two pizzas and six packets of chips at one time. I was an obese Indian who was always bullied in New York till one day I saw myself in the mirror and decided that I would lose weight and I lost 50 kgs and returned to India. Mr Ajay Devgn saw me at Perry’s and I got my first break in Haal-E-Dil. I had gone on trust, but came to know only later that I actually had two lines and one song in it. I knew that my launch was ruined. I remember crying to my dad on the phone. I was lucky that the Bhatts were so kind that despite Haal-e-Dil, they cast me in Raaz 2 that did well and then Jashnn, which was a flop. Post that, calls stopped and I sat at home for the last four years.
 
Last four years must have been tough for you? Yes, it was very tough. Right from the age of 15, I have wanted to do well for my parents. I do realise what my parents have done for me. It was not easy for my father to send me to Millfield paying 40 lakh every year as just the tuition fee. It’s not that he is a billionaire. He worked really hard to send me there and gave me whatever I wanted in life. Today, after being in the industry, the thought of not doing well is not about not being a star or not owning a bigger car. It troubles me as I have been at home for four years, not made money and have not done well in my life. My parents are selfless and will never tell me but I want to do well for them. They feel sad that I have not got my due till date and was written off after one flop. My mother had this dream of me doing good films, looking good on screen and being presented really well. But that did not happen. It was very frustrating for her seeing me sit at home. From a time after Raaz 2, when my phone would continuously ring, it stopped ringing. I stopped meeting people and partying. I had only two friends. One my gym trainer Sonu Chaurasia and the second, Ariana Ayam from New York. She has come for the film and will go back after that. There were many times when I felt it was a dead end for me in my life but my dad never gave up. My mother always wanted to see my father as this movie star. Of course he became this big television star but she has always dreamt of me being a big star. Even though he became a big television celebrity, I feel given his talent, he did not get his due as an actor. As an actor, I am an extension of my father. If Heartless does well for me as an actor, I feel even my father will get his due as an actor apart from being the director of the film.
 
Your affair with Kangana Ranaut got you more eyeballs than your work. I started dating her two months after shooting for Raaz 2 and we dated for exactly one year from April 1, 2009 to April 1, 2010. We broke up just before the release of Jashnn. Though our relationship was that of a normal young couple, it was written about as being a relationship where I was riding on her celebrity status which in reality was completely untrue. Being written about as the girl in the relationship made me angry. Nobody gives you a film because you are someone's boyfriend or a big father’s son. You get films basis your talent. We broke up as we decided that we both needed to focus on our careers. She is the man in her house and is bold and upfront. She has come from Himachal Pradesh, knows nobody and has done so well for herself. I too felt that love and things like that can happen later in life but at that time I needed to focus. I was only 22. We did not break up all of a sudden but it was a concerted decision taken by the both of us over two months. A breakup is always tough as you get used to a person over a year but we were both clear about focussing on our lives and have never met after that. I had lot of expectations from Jashnn, but it did not do well. My father gifted me a 7-series on my birthday just before the release of Jashnn as he was so overwhelmed seeing the film but I was branded a spoilt brat. It hurt me so badly, that I sold my car at a throwaway price. It was my first car and my prized possession given to me by my father from his heart and I cherished that. I still remember that day when that guy came and took it away. I thought to myself, ‘Maybe it is time for me to buy a car for my dad.’
 
What made you apologise to your father after your breakup? I said sorry to him as I had been defiant and had not listened to him. My dad had told me, ‘Even if she is the nicest person in the world, you are lucky to get a break in the film industry. Don’t ruin it for yourself. Do whatever you want to do but after building your base, you will be on autopilot. But if you mess up while taking off, you will take a long time to take a flight again.’ And that’s what happened. I sat at home. Being transparent in my relationship sent the wrong signals, Jashnn did not do well and it affected my career.
 
Talk about your relationship with your father?
He is my friend and I am most attached to him in the world. He has always been very cool with me as a father and so, I have shared details of my life with him. I have not seen someone as strong as him. I had given up but he never gave up. He always knows what I am feeling without my having to say it. He will say things that will cheer you. For instance he would tell me, ‘Jab Heartless succeeds, you have to gift me a car.’ That would just boost my confidence at a time when I would be just sitting at home. There was a time when we felt even Heartless would not be made as production houses wanted to either change the director or the actor, even though they liked the script. I’m scared of what after Heartless if it doesn’t work, but I genuinely feel God has a plan, otherwise it would not have turned out to be the film it has and that too, after struggling for three years. While I still have some money out of what I made initially, I feel so ashamed swiping my father’s credit card or buying something with his money. The journey of Heartless has made me patient in life.
 
Your brother Ayush’s memory is alive for your parents. What about you? As a kid, I remember eating with him, playing his video games, but I don’t remember my parents telling me that he was ill. When he died, I was sent to my nani’s best friend Narayan aunty’s house and called back after two days. Of course I was shown his body and never realised what it meant, until one day, due to my habit of opening drawers, I found pictures of that night when they were all sitting around his body. I could not deal with that and still sometimes get flashes of it. I eventually came to terms with it when I was 10. I do remember Ayush bhaiya getting angry with me when I played with his games and shouting ‘Adhyayan’. But I never felt neglected even though there were times when I would be sent to my cousin chacha’s place or to Patna so that my parents could look after Ayush bhaiya. There was too much love always. He is the angel in my life too like he is for my parents. Every night I will fold my hands and pray to him in my bed. If I am in trouble I will always ask him, ‘Ayush bhaiya, please get this done'. I have been doing this since I was a kid. There are nights when I just ask him, ‘Please take care of the health of my parents.’ I know it is part of nature that everyone needs to go one day, but I can’t imagine that.
 
Talk about your friend and co-star Ariana? She studied with me in New York. She is an Afghani who is a New Yorker. In this heartless world, she is selfless and she is a friend who has been there for me and my father and has helped us at a time when we were unable to find a girl of our choice for the film. I had directed a short film with her in it and showed it to my father who loved her. She has come to India leaving her life in the US to be in the film and is brilliant in it.

Priya Gupta (BOMBAY TIMES; January 6, 2014)

The talented Deepti Naval plays Adhyayan Suman’s mother in Shekhar Suman’s directorial debut Heartless. We have learnt that her character is modelled on the actorfilmmaker’s real-life wife, Alka. While Heartless is a romantic thriller based on the concept of anaesthesia awareness, at its core, it is a mother-son relationship story. All mothers are possessive about their sons and we have learnt that apparently, the chemistry between Adhyayan and Deepti became so real that it made Alka jealous. Well, if the film does well, jealousy should give way to pride for both her son and for Deepti.

Priya Gupta (BOMBAY TIMES; January 5, 2013)

Shekhar Suman, 52, is a firm believer in destiny. He has faced many a challenge in his life, but his upcoming film Heartless (inspired by the Hollywood film Awake) is his biggest challenge till date. Not only does he debut as a director, but his biggest challenge is to bring back the smile on his son Adhyayan’s face. Shekhar is temperamental and arrogant with people who are not nice to him and can be rude at times, but one thing is for sure, he is honest, conscientious and a complete family man, whose biggest weakness is Adhyayan. In a conversation with Bombay Times, he talks about losing his son Ayush, Adhyayan’s affair with Kangana Ranaut and why Shashi Kapoor will always have a special place in his life. Excerpts:
 
How did you become an actor? I am a Kayastha born in Patna. My nana was the first Advocate-General of Bihar, who, at any point, housed 50 financially-weak but brilliant students, in his outhouse. My dad was one such student. My nana not only sent him to Edinburgh to study, but also married his daughter (my mom) to him, as he was a gold medalist who had never come second in his life. My father was extremely respected as a heart surgeon all over the world, but was a strict disciplinarian for me. He wanted me to excel in academics though I only dreamt of being a star and coming to Mumbai. There was no discussion of films and no TV in our house. I became a rebel and would flout all rules from the age of 10. I would sneak out to watch films and had friends who were 10 years older to me, who were goons of the area and I wanted to be like them. I was very shy as a kid and would hide behind curtains if we had visitors in the house. I once heard my dad tell his friends how I was the only black sheep in the house. I was obsessed with films and Mumbai. If someone came from Mumbai, I would pester my parents to make me meet him. Once my maidservant got married to a labourer on the ship and I did my best to befriend him as he was from Mumbai. I dreamt of how Amitabh Bachchan would be staying in paradise and there would be clouds on the roads. I was a big Mukesh fan and came to know that he was coming to Danapur, close to Patna. I would pray everyday to God so that I could meet him. I sneaked out from the ventilator with my friends and went to the stadium. We had bought the cheapest tickets and so were standing at the top, leaning against the wall, when there was lathi charge due to the large crowd and I fell from a height of 100 feet, but somehow did not die, though some people actually died. There was a complete commotion, but I somehow got backstage, where Mukesh was sitting and I just went and touched him from behind. God had fulfilled my dream. I had gone out of control and was moved to Ranchi into a public school with a hostel — Vikas Vidyalaya — in Class IX. It was there that I blossomed and suddenly from being a reticent boy became the prefect and a public speaker. I then went to Ramjas College, Delhi, after which I started doing theatre at the Sri Ram Centre for Art and Culture and became a professional stage actor. As luck would have it, Shammi aunty was shooting for a film Pighalta Aasman in Delhi that had Shashi Kapoor and Raakhee and they needed a theatre artiste for a small role. I obviously jumped and volunteered and was selected. I would have been fine even if I died after this as I had given a shot in front of the camera. I told Shammi aunty about me wanting to become an actor and took her permission to meet her in Mumbai. Even though I was just 22, I was married to Alka and we moved in with my oldest sister in Mumbai. Coincidentally, when I met Shammi aunty in Mumbai she was still shooting for the same film, but this time Shashi Kapoor was on the set. She introduced me to him and I could not believe that I was sitting on a chair next to him. He was such a gentleman, he said to me, ‘Young man, what do you want to do?’ I said, ‘I want to become an actor,’ and he said, ‘Good. You're a good-looking boy. I am planning a big film called Utsav and I’m looking for a young boy. Would you be interested?’ I almost fell from the chair. Next day, he sent me to meet Girish Karnad, who was directing the film at his house. Can you believe it, his wife opened the door and said, ‘Girish, your Charudutt is here.’ I auditioned at RK Studio, only to realise that there were hundreds of such Charudutts, who had been called for the audition. But it was destined and within 15 days of coming to Mumbai, I had landed myself a role as a lead actor with Rekha in Utsav. Both his sons, Karan and Kunal, wanted to be cast but Shashi Kapoor was very democratic. I will always remain indebted to him and Girish Karnad and will do anything for them and their families in my life. While shooting Utsav, my first son Ayush was born. It was also at that time that Jennifer died and the release of Utsav was delayed by three years.
 
You lost Ayush almost 20 years back and yet he is so alive in your life? I was overwhelmed when Ayush was born. But Utsav got delayed and despite working with top actresses, my films were still not working. My career was shaken up and we got to know that Ayush was terminally ill, due to a heart illness, for a disease that was truly rare. Adhyayan was a year old then and was four years younger to him. Ayush was given eight months, but survived for three more years. I would stay up at nights just looking at him. We went to godmen, did alternative therapy, went to the best doctors, but it was destined and we lost him. With that, I also lost complete faith in God. That’s the moment in life where you think of taking your life and all the stardom and fame seem worthless. My wife was the biggest strength, given the resilience she showed, though it affected her later when things stabilised. She had suppressed her pain for too long. Adhyayan became my reason for living and I felt blessed for having him. Till Adhyayan was four, we had neglected him completely as our entire focus was on Ayush. I still remember when we got Ayush from the hospital, Adhyayan had a weird look on his face and he would tell us six months after we lost Ayush, ‘Bhaiya comes to the window and talks to me.’ Alka and I were told that he would visit us. We had an eerie experience in 2009. I was campaigning in Patna and Alka had visited the Kashi Vishwanath temple in Varanasi. She called me and I don’t know why I took her call during giving a speech and asked, ‘Did you meet Ayush?’ She was shocked but told me how she was in the car, when a small boy came and asked her for money. She gave him 10, but he said, ‘Isse mera kya hoga?’ That was what Ayush would say to us when there were restrictions on his food and we could not give him what he wanted. When Alka looked up to see the boy, she saw Ayush after which she blacked out for a few seconds and dug into her purse to take out all the money she had, but he was nowhere to be seen. We have frankly not been able to get over his demise till date. We all take his blessings, including Adhyayan, as he was the angel in our lives who took away all our problems with him. Life has been good, but I have lost the dearest person in my life.
 
Talk about your wife Alka? I am the most difficult person to live with on this earth. But I’m madly in love with my wife due to what she has done. She is simple and unaffected by glamour. She is a giver for whom the only thing that matters is Adhyayan and my success and happiness. Unlike me, she forgives and forgets easily and has no personal desires.
 
Talk about Adhyayan? He is the most loving and caring boy I have seen. He is loyal, dedicated and sensitive. I keep telling him that boys like him are not made anymore as not only does he not drink or smoke or party, but he is a giver who just wants to do things for Alka, me and his dadi. As an actor, he is brilliant. Otherwise, I would not have risked directing my first film with him. Bhatt sahab had seen Jashn and Raaz 2 and called me at 6 in the morning to say, ‘You have a gem in the house. This guy is brilliant.’ Jashn came in 2009 and did not work. Adhyayan was heartbroken. My biggest challenge is to bring back the smile on his face.
 
Were you against Adhyayan dating Kangana? Yes, he did have a relationship with her. That was 2009-10, when he was going through a troubled time. I was concerned as a father as he was going astray and had started changing for the worse. He would back-answer Alka, would stay out all night partying and that bothered me. He was far too young and did not know what he was doing. It was obviously an infatuation and not love. I did not want him to lose focus in his career. He would not listen to us. Alka is more emotional and was very possessive about him and would make my life miserable versus him. One of the directors he had worked with, called me and said, ‘Shekhar, save your son.’ But later after breaking up, he realised that he was wrong. He would shut his room, look at the ceiling and just cry for months like a kid. I know that he was crying not just for what he had done but for the fact that he did not listen to us. He realised that we meant well for him and said sorry and he accepted how he was completely wrong. I am a firm believer in God. Careers can be built but once your life is spoilt, you may not be able to return.

Vickey Lalwani (MUMBAI MIRROR; December 25, 2013)

A week ago, Shekhar Suman decided to re-record Sonu Nigam and Sunidhi Chauhan’s songs for his directorial debut Heartless after Bhushan Kumar, the head honcho of music label T-Series, threatened not to release the album. Kumar was upset because the singers had resolutely refused to sign a contract which Sonu has described as “feudal and exploitative”.

With this the on-going war between ISRA (Indian Singers Rights Association) and the music companies has grown uglier, and other singers like Shreya Ghoshal, Shaan, Neeti Mohan, Nikhil D’Souza, Arijit and Kailash Kher have joined the duo to fight for royalties.

So what is this contract which has B’Town’s leading voices up in arms? According to Sanjay Tandon, managing director of ISRA formed last July, the singers are being asked to sign a contract which stipulates that they are assigning their performer’s rights to the music director who passes them on to the producer who then has “exclusive right including but not limited to the right to reproduce the performance in any material form”.

A sample of this agreement, given to Mirror by Tandon, further states that in the case of any audiovisual recording of a performance, the singer has to assign his/her right to royalty under Section 38A (2) to the music director who passes it to the producer in lieu of a lump sum of royalty payment.

Finally there’s one clause under Section 31C according to which a singer has to agree that he/ she will not perform or record a song, and this includes cover versions, without the permission and licence of the music director and/or the producer.

Shaan explains,“Besides being denied royalty, we have now been told that once we record a song for a film, we cannot sing it on any other platform.”

Tandon and the singers insist that these clauses are in complete violation of the amendment in the Copyright Act, which was brought into force on June 21, 2012, which states that “provided that, notwithstanding anything contained in this subsection (38A (2), the performer shall be entitled for royalties in case of making of the performances for commercial use.”

Further, Section 39(A) states that as per Section 18 and 19, “the right to royalty cannot be assigned or waived by the performer except to the legal heir of the performer or to a Copyright Society (in this case is ISRA) and any agreement to the contrary shall be void”.

While the playback fraternity is campaigning to enforce these clauses, Bhushan Kumar argues that the agreements, which the producer community has adopted, are in accordance with the provisions of the Copyright Act 1957 and so not illegal. “If there is any difference of opinion on the interpretation of the law, the same can only be settled by a court of law,” he asserts.

He adds that there is no embargo on the assignment of performer's rights or the right to receive royalties. “Certain singers with vested interests, based on their erroneous interpretation of draft singer agreements adopted by the producers, have been spreading false rumours and are trying to dissuade others from signing the agreements,” he alleges.

Sonu points out that the singers aren’t demanding money from the music companies per se. “They want money from sponsors and not share with us which is why they want us to sign these contracts,” he asserts.

Bhushan reasons that producers are investing crores in lyricists, composers, music recordings, song picturisations and promotions while singers are only lending their voices to compositions which have already been created with little creative input of theirs. “The same singer then earns crores by performing these songs at live shows and doesn't share the income with the producers,” he grouses, adding that a song can be rendered by any talented and trained singer. “So singers should take a film song as an opportunity and not arm-twist producers by not signing the contracts on the basis of unreasonable and unrealistic demands.”

He adds that the draft agreement referred to by Sonu and Tandon has no restrictions whatsoever on any singer's ability to perform live. He says singers like Arijit, Shaan, Mohit Chauhan, Shreya Ghoshal, Ash King, Benny Dayal, Neeraj Sridhar, Humsika Iyer and Nandini Shrikar are happily signing the producer's agreements.

Seems Shreya has broken away as she says, “We have always worked on the basis of trust, but the time has now come for a change.”

Tandon’s rejoinder to Bhushan Kumar’s reasoning is that if the returns of music companies has decreased due to a drop in physical sales, then they are being aptly compensated by digital downloads which are increasing everyday and also earning money from radio and TV.

“All the music companies--T-Series, Venus, Sony and Tips--are in this together. We are ready to forfeit royalty if the law ministry says singers should abide by the contracts," he says.

Ramesh Taurani of Tips counters this argument saying, “We have released four films this year. Singers don’t need to be given royalty, we are giving them one-time payment.”

Sunidhi says the contracts come to the singers long after they've recorded the songs, close to the film’s music release. “I'm ready to be replaced, like it happened with Heartless, but I won’t give up the fight,” she says.

Arijit who crooned the chartbusters in Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani and Aashiqui 2 has given up the fight and returned to West Bengal, telling close friends that he'll think twice before singing for films in Mumbai again.

ISRA president Lata Mangeshkar recalls that in her time they'd formed a Playback Association which ensured that singers got royalty. “But following some misunderstanding, the Association shut shop. The singers must continue to fight for their royalty,” she urges.

Tandon charts out ISRA’s course of action, “We will have field staff to educate all platforms, like hotels, shops and airways, and ISRA will conduct surprise checks on these platforms.”

Mandar Thakur, COO, Times Music says, "Times Music is supportive of a fair copyright / royalty system based on best global practices and on a local music industry structure based system that recognizes that India's music industry is fundamentally dependent on the film industry and different from the rest of the world and is upfront payment based . Hence the law needs to be reflective and respective of that economic reality. Many constituents are interpreting the law at their own will /viewpoint and that may or may not be necessarily correct for the industry to grow.

Bhushan Kumar advises calm in the face of a gathering storm, telling singers not to get carried away by a few passionate tweets or posts and getting misled by parties with vested interests. “If the singer fraternity still has any concerns, we are happy to discuss and address the same. We remain committed to nurturing an excellent relationship with the singer fraternity.”

Mehul S Thakkar (MUMBAI MIRROR; December 21, 2013)

Shekhar Suman is livid after Scrabble, a company which uploads movie promos, sent a rejected trailer of his directorial debut Heartless to the multiplexes. This happened after he told Scrabble to delete the short promo from the server and payed the multiplexes to play a longer teaser instead.

A source told Mirror, “Shekhar had planned to release his promo with Goliyon Ki Raasleela: Ram-Leela. However, today multiplexes charge per minute and his promo was over two minutes so he decided to cut it to 90 seconds.”

 However, Shekhar wasn’t happy with the shorter version and eventually decided to play the longer version. But on Thursday, when the team went to a theatre, they were shocked to see the 90 second promo playing and immediately alerted the boss.

Shekhar confirmed the story, “I’m shocked, I asked the manager if someone had paid him to sabotage my film. He denied it.”

Suresh Nair, head of operation, Scrabble, said, “The changes have been made and I have informed all the multiplexes. The producer has to give us a written confirmation on which promo is to be played. In this case, we didn’t have any.”

Vickey Lalwani (MUMBAI MIRROR; December 16, 2013)

Sachin Tendulkar will launch the music of Shekhar Suman’s Heartless on December 18. Confirming the news Shekhar said, “I am ecstatic. I admire the master batsman and having him launch the music of my film is a dream come true.”

He added that Sachin had given him the nod in 60 seconds flat. “I was in the commentary box with him during the Indo-South Africa, Indo-Sri Lanka and Indo-England series. He is a fantastic human being.”

Sachin’s entry however will be followed by Sonu Nigam and Sunidhi Chauhan’s exit from the music album. Mirror reported on December 13 that unless the singers who had recorded songs for Heartless a year ago, signed the contracts Bhushan Kumar had given them, the head honcho of T-Series who had the rights, refused to release the music. But the duo has refused to give in saying that signing the “feudal contract” would deprive them of their rightful royalty. Now, both of them will be replaced. 

“I have no choice in the matter,”sighs Shekhar. “I am terribly hurt. Singers whom I know for a lesser time than Sonu and Sunidhi have signed up.”