Upala KBR (DNA; December 14, 2015)
Juhi Chawla is not on talking terms with her makeup man of 20 years — Subhash Singh though she’s acting in his next co-production Chalk N Duster which also stars Shabana Azmi and Rishi Kapoor. Subhash tells us the problem started after the shooting of the film began. “Jayant Gilata brought the subject of Chalk N Duster to me and it touched my heart. I went to Juhiji with the script and she loved it, but she wanted to change the director. It took me six months to convince her to sit with the writers and change the script. Finally, she said yes to the director and Juhiji and Shabanaji sat for a joint narration after which the film started. At that time I was the producer and Amin Surani was the co-producer and financier.”
It was after the film went over budget that things began to sour for Subhash. “We were to make it at a budget of Rs 5.50-5.75 crore. There was a misunderstanding between Amin and me after which I saw that my name was coming as co-producer and Amin’s as producer on the clapboard. When I tried to talk to Juhiji she shut me out completely. The director was to complete the film in 38 days, but it got extended to 55 days so the budget naturally rose. I kept Juhiji’s manager as EP on the sets and he instigated her against me. Not once did she ask me what happened. I am very hurt with Juhiji’s behavior. Chalk N Duster was my baby. I spent one-and-a-half years nurturing and watching it grow. When it got completed they snatched it from my hands.”