Sharad Kelkar, in a recent podcast, revealed his ‘kat gaya mera’ moment after he accepted a role in Priyadarshan’s Hulchul which starred Akshaye Khanna and Kareena Kapoor in leading roles.
Yes, you heard that right! For those who don’t know, Sharad Kelkar played the role of Satyendra ‘Sattu’ Mishra, a doctor who is supposed to get hitched to Anjali (Kareena Kapoor) before she falls in love with Jai (Akshaye Khanna) in the 2004 romantic comedy, Hulchul. Now, comes a shocker!
Recently, when the Tanhaji actor made an appearance on Cyrus Broacha’s podcast, he revealed that he was duped into accepting a role in this Priyadarshan directorial. He said that he was pitched a song sequence and scenes opposite Kareena, but after spending nearly a week on set doing nothing, he realised that he’d been conned.
Speaking about how he landed the role of Dr Sattu, Sharad told Cyrus, “I came to Mumbai in 2002. I was doing some modelling stuff, and ads. Then, after a year, even that was gone, because a new lot had come. I was struggling with photoshoots and all. Between that, the chief AD called me and said they’re making a film, it’s a multi-starrer, and it’s a very important role in the film. I was a naive, new guy, no idea about the culture. So, I asked what the film was. He said it’s called Hulchul, and you’ll have an engagement song, a few scenes with Kareena.”
Sharad admitted that he was quite excited to be a part of this film, even though he was told that his character won’t get the girl in the climax. However, a few days later, the actor realised that something was off.
“So, I went to the sets. First day, I was sitting. Second day, I was sitting. Third day, I was sitting. And I could see Amrish Puri, Suniel Shetty, Jackie Shroff, Kareena Kapoor, Arshad Warsi… I was in awe of everybody. But I just kept waiting. I was getting a per-day payment, so I wasn’t very bothered (about not having anything to do). I needed the money. It was around Rs 2500. But then, five days passed. The shoot was going on, but they weren’t calling me. They’d told me Priyadarshan is impatient and he likes to improvise. They train you, ke tera katne wala hai (that you are being fooled). And that’s how I did Sattu. And I realised ke katt gaya mera (that I was conned).”
The actor revealed that in protest, he refused to dub for his character of Dr Sattu and the makers enlisted someone else to do the same.
Sharad further said that for a few years, he was reluctant to accept that he was a part of Hulchul. However now, he laughs at that memory.
Priyadarshan’s Hulchul is a remake of Siddique-Lal’s 1991 Malayalam film, Godfather. The film revolves around how two youngsters from feuding families pretend to fall in love as a part of a revenge, only for their fake romance to become a reality later.
