Tabu can be very mercurial. And who knows this better than me?! She took an immediate dislike to me after our first interview where I unwittingly quoted a line she says she asked me not to. One line, that’s all it took.

Wonder what Anupam Kher did to piss off Tabu! But he never directed any film after she walked out of his one and only directorial venture Om Jai Jagdish in 2002, and that too at the eleventh hour.

Anupam’s set, a beach house where the entire family of mom Waheeda Rehman, sons Anil Kapoor, Fardeen Khan, Abhishek Bachchan and daughters-in-law Tabu, Urmila Matondkar and Tara Sharma were to assemble for a family film.

Except that Tabu fled, leaving Anupam high and dry. I remember he was so upset that he could barely control his anger and he swore he would never work with Tabu again. And he has kept his word.

The frantic effort to find a replacement at the last minute was an ordeal that Anupam is unlikely to forget in a hurry. No prominent actress had the dates to give at the last minute. Finally, Anupam convinced Mahima Chaudhary to jump into Tabu’s place.

As for directing another film Anupam says, “I’d rather get my molar extracted without anesthesia. Less painful, less expensive, and far quicker.”

Ouch!

The views and opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the writer and not necessarily those of IWMBuzz. IWMBuzz does not guarantee the accuracy or reliability of the information provided herein.