Late veteran actor Om Puri, who passed away on January 6, was supposed to appear on Bollywood superstar Salman Khan’s popular TV show “Bigg Boss” to promote his last film “Rambhajjan Zindabad”, says Khalid Kidwai, who has produced the film.
“We have suffered big loss with Om Puri ji, because he was the only star in the film. He played lead role after a long time. We was seen in lead in ‘Malamaal Weekly’ and ‘Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro’,” Kidwai said in a statement.
“We had discussed a lot about the film promotion. We had planned to get him on ‘Bigg Boss’ for promotion with Salman Khan. Also we had planned various cities tour as Om Puri ji was very excited about this film. I can never full fill his presence in my film promotions,” he added.
Directed by Ranjeet Gupta, the story of the film revolves around Chiraunji village in Uttar Pradesh and shows how lower caste daily wager Ram Bhajan, who wants to earn more money, tries to misuse a government scheme and faces caste politics and corruption.
Besides producing the film, Kidwai has also played a supporting role in it.
“Being a film producer, I never felt pressure of working of Om Puri. While we were shooting, one artist got sick and had gone back to home. He was playing important role of inspector. Director and I were very worried about his replacement. However Om Puri ji told me that don’t worry Khalid, you only play this role,” Kidwai said.
“I was shocked. I replied that I have never acted before sir, I can’t do. But then I got ready to face camera for the first time. In my opinion he was my godfather in film industry,” he added.
Kidwai earlier shared that the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) has denied a certificate to “Rambhajjan Zindabad” citing “abuses and absurd language” as the reason.
