Hrithik, Bhansali at loggerheads

Buzz is that numerous differences have cropped up between Bhansali and Hrithik, due to which tension is rife on the set of the film.

Reportedly, before signing the film Hrithik had informed Bhansali that he loved improvising and would like to be permitted to give his inputs. Post the Saawariya debacle no actor wanted to sign a Bhansali film and so the latter who was eager to sign Hrithik agreed to the actor’s requests.

A source from the set reveals, “Initially everything appeared to be fine. In fact, Bhansali was more than happy with Hrithik’s inputs. He would also give Hrithik’s example to the other cast of the film. But after two weeks of shooting, Hrithik’s constant comments started irritating Bhansali.”

Apparently, Bhansali felt that Hrithik had an opinion about everything and was taking over as the film’s director. Explains our source, “Bhansali has never let his actors dictate terms to him, but with Hrithik, he had made an exception. But it was completely out of character for him and eventually he lost his cool.”

It is believed that the story of Guzaarish is based in and around ancient Goa and most of the dialogues in the film are in English and Portuguese. This apparently created a huge rift between Hrithik and Bhansali.

Our source reports, “Hrithik told Bhansali that having too many English dialogues would throw off the audience. Bhansali ignored Hrithik’s advice and penned more English dialogues.” According to an insider, this infuriated Hrithik who while shooting the scene continued to say his dialogues in Hindi instead of English, which led to a huge showdown between Hrithik and Bhansali.

It is said that lead actress Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, who has worked with both Bhansali and Hrithik in the past, had to step in to intervene. “Aishwarya explained to Hrithik that Bhansali has his own style of working and he should respect it,” says our source.

Narrating another instance our source adds, “Bhansali didn’t okay a scene despite several retakes by Hrithik. When an angry Hrithik asked him the reason Bhansali replied ‘you are not giving your best’. This angered Hrithik and the two had a huge argument.”

In Guzaarish, Hrithik plays a paraplegic and the actor has been working hard to get into his role. He spent a lot of time with people suffering from paraplegia and is also growing his hair and putting on weight for this movie, so when Bhansali told him he wasn’t giving his best he felt insulted and hurt.

This isn’t the first time that Bhansali has upset his lead actors. The director is known to have a nasty temper on his sets and has often verbally abused his actors. It was reported that on the sets of Saawariya, Bhansali often yelled at his actors Ranbir Kapoor and Sonam Kapoor. A source close to Sonam says, “Many a time Sonam would be in tears and Ranbir would get angry too, but they’d never raise their voices because they were new and respected Bhansali for giving them a break but both of them vowed they would never work with him again.”

Will Hrithik take a similar vow?