MUMBAI: After Deepika Padukone who’s being hauled over the coals for her supposed unprofessionalism by producer Ramesh Taurani, it’s now Zarine Khan’s turn to be pulled up by producer Vinod Bachchan for leaving his film Zilla Ghaziabad in the lurch.

Lashing out at the actress for her unprofessional conduct Bachchan says, "She was finalized to do the item song in my film. Even her costumes were all ready. Then she realized that Vivek Oberoi was in the film. And Salman wouldn’t like it if she participated in a film featuring him. What was she doing all the time? Shouldn’t she or her business manager  have found out details about the project before agreeing to the item song? I had to run from pillar to post to get a replacement at the last minute."

 

Apparently Zarine opted out as she didn’t want to displease her mentor Salman Khan by working in a project featuring Vivek Oberoi.

But an actress close to Salman argues, "She’s letting Salman run her life. Does she think Salman would be pleased if she does a check-list of all the people he doesn’t like and then stays away from them? By that  logic Sanjay Dutt who’s very close to Salman should have refused to work with Vivek Oberoi in Zilla Ghaziabad. On the contrary, Dutt has been trying to convince Salman to set aside his differences with Vivek and shake hands. And that’s the way it should be. And if she thinks she’s being loyal to Salman by not working with his enemies, then she should be rewarded with work. Salman did get her a role in his friend Sajid Nadiadwala’s Housefull 2.  But beyond that Zarine is yet to benefit from her demonstrative efforts at loyalty."

 

Vinod Bachchan has apparently suffered losses to the tune of Rs. 10 lakhs because of Zarine’s alleged unprofessionalism. "How can she give up work for personal reasons, and that too when these reasons have nothing to do with her, and when she is practically doing nothing? Today topnotch heroines are vying with one another to get item songs, so they can perform them on stage. Zarine got noticed for her item song in Anees Bazmi’s Ready. This could have been her second big item song in a row. Instead she decided to let it go. Very sad."

 

Bachchan is looking into how to get Zarine to compensate  for the losses he has suffered. "We were all set to shoot with her when she pulled this shocker on us. Funnily, Vivek Oberoi is not even part of the item song. Just because Vivek is part of my cast she decided on her own that Salman wouldn’t like it if she did our song. Zarine should know that personal equations are not brought into this profession. If she decided to keep away from all the people Salman can’t get along with she would be left with very little choices."

 

Interestingly Salman does carry his aversion to all things Oberoi to his work place. A source close to Sanjay Gupta informs that Salman was pissed off when Gupta had signed Vivek Oberoi for Shootout At Lokhandwala.

 

Says a source, "Salman had sent a message to Gupta through Arbaaz Khan (who was a part of Shootout At Lokhandwala) why Vivek had been signed. So it’s likely that he’d get pissed off with Zarine for working in a Vivek starrer."