There is nothing more revered in this world. Success defines a star’s career graph. His or her market saleability. Their popularity abroad. Success brings in all the moolah. It is all that matters. Ironically, success also can get so intoxicating that it sometimes blurs one’s vision, makes you feel omnipotent, corrodes your modesty, decays your sensitivity, ultimately falling to one of the most deadly of the seven sins: greed.
Tickets were now on sale in full swing when madame kapoor dropped the bomb. She was on a trip to london when she saw an advertisement on zee tv promoting the show. Without wasting time she picked up the phone and categorically informed them that they are misleading their viewers since she is not coming for the show.
Just how ruthless can greed make you depends on power that comes with success. Karisma Kapoor, perhaps, would be the last person to qualify for that. After all, nobody has tasted success like Lolo…
Lolo’s success is perhaps a case study in itself. Despite being from the first family of Indian filmdom, she was made to go through the grind, at one time even written off as a non-actress. She was made to earn something which was supposed to be her birthright. But having suffered all the humiliation, she has had the last laugh and is arguably right up there through sheer guts and determination. What’s more, in a chalta hai attitude, film industry she was one of the few professionals for whom the industry was full of praise… Until now.
In the October issue of STARDUST we revealed how her decision to drop out of projects at the nth hour was causing producers distress. Now her unprofessional attitude has gathered more momentum. Lolo is actually being sued by a stage show promoter in London to the tune of 1,20,000 pounds(84 lakhs approx) for having allegedly threatened to play truant at first, thereby plummeting the sale of tickets and later demanding twice the price initially agreed upon.
The Asian Millennium show, as it was called was unique and one of its kind. Because unlike the other shows which was held at Wembley Arena or Birmingham NEC this one was being held at ‘Alton Towers’ (an amusement park almost comparable to Disney Standards). The show was scheduled on the 31st July and 1st of August along with a provisional show in Scotland. Tickets which sold for the show, along with an entry to the park, were being grabbed like hot cakes. It was summertime in London and a great family day out. The organizers were thrilled since they had managed to sign up Akshay Kumar and Raveena at a time when their relationship was at loggerheads and both were blasting each other in print( that they were a cosy twosome during the days of the show is a different story). Then they roped in Karisma and Chandrachur fresh from their ‘SilSila Hai Pyar Ka’ misadventure but strengthened the success of ‘Haseena Maan Jayegi’ and ‘Biwi No.1.’ And Sonu Nigam along with Shankar “Breathtaking” Mahadevan and Hema Sardesai would regale the audience with their voice. It couldn’t go wrong so they thought.
Tickets were now on sale in full swing when Madame Kapoor dropped the bomb. She was on a trip to London when she saw an advertisement on ZEE TV promoting the show. Without wasting time she picked up the phone and categorically informed them that they are misleading viewers since she is not coming for the show. Zee TV officials now informed Globe entertainment, the organizers, about this. Meanwhile she had already got her secretary Zahid send a letter informing them about her unavailability for the show due to other commitments. Other commitments? Wait a minute. She has signed a contract, the advertisements are out, the posters all over London have her picture. There was no way she could back out now. “We tried our best to convince Zahid, her secretary that she couldn’t do this,” says Vinti Aggarwal, one of the promoters. However, Zahid was defiant. “She could fall ill, then you cannot do anything”, he is reported to have told them. Soon word got around that Karisma will not be attending. Ticket sales began to drop. “We actually stopped selling tickets,” says Aggarwal, “no space since we did not want to mislead the people.”
Karisma, having done shows with them before, tried to tell them that she had shootings to attend and therefore she cannot make it. “She did not have films in hand when we signed her 2 months before the show. It was not our fault that she signed a flurry of films after that,” says Aggarwal.
In desperation, with no other option left, the organizers sent her a letter through a solicitor stating that she cannot shy away from a written contract (money was paid in advance) and that if she did, she will have to reimburse the losses caused.
Lolo relented. The last thing she wanted was to get into legal hassles. She agreed to do the shows but on her terms. She demanded that she be paid twice the agreed sum and she would only do 2 shows and not the third one in Scotland. Her success, which she worshipped, was demanding insensitivity to an organizer’s plight. Her greed was driving them to financial ruin. But having been in the business for over 12 years the organizers decided they rather agree to her terms than to let down the people who were longing to see their “Rani Hindustani”. With barely a week left, they got a letter confirming her participation since her demands were met…
But by now damage had already been done, ticket sales would never be the same again. They knew it. Karisma was having her cake and eating it too — She was not finished with them, though. There was more grief in store for the now hapless organizers as they kept bowing to her majesty. On the day of arrival she decided to stay back. While all the others arrived a day before on Air India on the 30th of July so that they could give interviews to the media, Lolo came via British Airways on the day of the show and refused to meet the press. She did the shows in a professional manner, though, entertaining the crowd with her “Sexy Sexy” number and winning their hearts with her dancing. But she stayed aloof from the rest of the troupe for most of the time and was happy that it was all over and done with in two days. Only she had not envisaged the organizers wrath. At the airport on the day of departure a stunned Lolo could not believe her eyes as she was handed over a court summons by the organizer’s solicitor. Lolo grabbed the nearest phone and asked them in frustration, “yeh kya hai?” Even as they tried to explain she slammed the phone down and rushed to the lounge furious at what was happening. Having chosen to ignore those summons the court has now issued a default notice and a hearing on this is to be scheduled soon. Lolo on her part, hopes that all this will be settled amicably.
A fortnight ago she even asked Smita Thackeray to intervene and end this imbroglio. At a meeting held in the presence of Smita Thackeray the organizers explained the reasons. Lolo apparently blamed her secretary for the mess and even told them that she has now sacked him. But the organizers wouldn’t budge. They had incurred huge losses. And had gone through hell in trying to persuade her. As of today, Lolo may not turn up for the hearing. She may of course seek an out of court settlement. For she knows that she has her back against the wall. These are not the best of times for the heroine No. 1. What with her disagreement with Mama Babita, her dropping out of projects, getting rid of a dubious secretary. But she’s been here before and is known to be a fighter. She’ll come through this. After all, unlike others she was made to work hard for her success and no way on earth is she letting it slip away. If only she could overcome her greed.