Bollywood star Katrina Kaif's 'Sonia Gandhi' look in Raajneeti has allegedly not gone down well in the corridors of power in Delhi. On Saturday, the cast and director of Raajneeti were stopped from holding their first media event in Delhi at public heritage spots, says a media report.
While admitting that his event had to be shifted to a suburban hotel in Delhi at the last minute, Prakash Jha is reluctant to divulge details.
According to a member of the crew, the director had sought permission to hold his first major media event at one of Delhi's heritage spots.
Says the source, "Jha wanted to hold the event either at India Gate or Red Fort in Delhi. So, when the consent didn't come, Jha was in a dilemma. Since the event required the co-coordinated dates of the vast cast, busy stars like Ranbir Kapoor, Katrina Kaif, Nana Patekar, Arjun Rampal and Manoj Bajpai (Ajay Devgn is away in Dubai) he panicked. Attempts to get other landmarks in Delhi for the event were also aborted. It was then that Jha smelt a rat. A discreet enquiry revealed that there was indeed a ban on Raajneeti events in public places."
Jha admits there was indeed a problem in getting a prominent public venue for his event.
"We wanted a large open-air venue. We were denied permission at several places including the Purana Quila (Old Fort), where shootings are regularly allowed. So I really couldn't see the any logic or rationale."
The event finally had to be shuttled indoors into the Galaxy Hotel in Gurgaon outside Delhi at the last minute.
When asked if the Sonia lookalike factor had anything to do with the crisis, Jha gets evasive, "I really don't want to comment on this. I again want to repeat that Katrina's character has nothing to do with Soniaji. In fact, I want to show her the film to avoid any misunderstanding such as the one we faced on Saturday."
How does he explain the uncanny resemblance Kat and Mrs Gandhi share? Even the fabric selected for her saris is the one favoured by the Congress chief .
Says Prakash, "Like I said let Soniaji watch the film. She'll know the truth. I hope it happens soon." Hopefully it will happen before the next public event for Raajneeti in Delhi.
Meanwhile Katrina is very worried about Rajneeti Katrina, who has always struggled with her limited Hindi and its UK accent, hopes the audiences love her in this non- glamorous, cotton sari-clad, serious role.
“It goes without saying that I am super excited about the way the film has shaped up. I have always given every role, be it glamorous or not, my best. From Namastey London to New York, Ajay Prem Ki Gajab Kahani and Rajneeti, all my roles were vastly different. I have enjoyed the challenged of portraying every single one of them. I love doing romantic comedies and probably will graduate to more serious kind of roles, I think,” she says.
Katrina, who hasn't kept well in the past year, is promoting Rajneeti across the country these days.
