Actor Sharad Kelkar recalled how he was tricked into accepting a role in the 2004 comedy Hulchul, directed by Priyadarshan. He said that he was given a number of songs and scenes opposite Kareena Kapoor, but after spending almost a week on the set doing nothing, he realized that he had been cheated.
In protest, Sharad refused to dub the film and the producers recruited someone else. In the film, Sharad appears as the character Satyendra ‘Sattu’ Mishra, who is supposed to marry Kareena Kapoor’s character, before falling in love with Akshaye Khanna’s character. In an appearance on Cyrus Broacha’s podcast, Sharad said that he really needed the money at the time, as the modeling job had ended. He said he was paid around Rs 2500 per day for the work.
In the AMA segment of the podcast, he was asked, “How did you land the iconic role of Dr Sattu in Hungama?” Sharad replied, “I came to Mumbai in 2002. I did some modeling and commercials. Then, after a year, that too left, because a new lot had come. I was struggling with the photo shoots and all that. In the meantime, the head of AD called me and said that they are making a movie, it is a multi-starrer movie and it is a very important role in the movie. I was a naive, young guy, I had no idea about culture. So I asked what the movie is. He said it’s called Hulchul, and you’ll have an engagement song, some scenes with Kareena…”
Sharad was excited about the opportunity, despite being told he wouldn’t ‘get the girl’ at the climax. “For a newcomer, it feels like you’ve arrived.” But, he said, he realized something was wrong a few days later. “Well, I went to the sets. The 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 everyone. But I just kept waiting. I was getting paid a day, so I wasn’t too bothered (having nothing to do). I needed the money. It was around Rs.2500. But then, five days passed. The shooting was going on, but I wasn’t being called. I had been told that Priyadarshan is impatient and likes to improvise. They train you ke tera katne wala hai (that they are making fun of you). And so I did Sattu. And I understood ke katt gaya mera (that they fought me). Then I told them I wouldn’t compile and they took it from someone else.”
Sarand laughed at the memory and the weak voice his character had been dubbed into. He said that he had played it like that on the set as well, but since they knew Sharad wouldn’t dub, they got someone else to do it. “For a few years, I was reluctant to accept that I was there in the film, but I realized that everyone is doing this, it doesn’t matter if I had to do it too,” he said.
Sharad refused to identify the AD who cast him in the film, but said he was the producer’s son. Also starring Akshay Khanna, Paresh Rawal, Arbaaz Khan and Shakti Kapoor, Hulchul emerged as a hit.
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