Published: Sep 25, 2011, 02:58 PM (IST)
Edited: Sep 04, 2014, 08:32 PM (IST)
By Amrut Thobbi
Please note: This is a humorous piece – pure fiction.
Shoaib Akhtar, under fire for rubbishing iconic names in India, clarified why he felt cheated by Shah Rukh Khan (SRK). The Pakistani paceman said Shah Rukh offered him the lead role in the movie Ra.One, but later grabbed the role for himself.
Shoaib said, “It’s unethical. I was lured into the Kolkata Knight Riders’ (KKR) team by SRK with a promise that one day I will be offered a lead role in one of his movies. Later he informed me that he was producing a superhero movie named Ra.One and that he couldn’t think of anyone better than me who could do justice to the lead role. Then one fine day I read in the media that SRK himself was going to be in the lead role. It came as a complete shock to me. Now I understand why it’s said that Bollywood is filled with cheats!”
Responding to Shoaib’s allegations, SRK said: “Shoaib misunderstood me. I never offered him the role in Ra.One. In fact I was going to pass on the role of the lead actor of the movie RaaVan, which director Mani Ratnam wanted me to play. RaaVan will be shot sometime in April 2012, and I will be busy with my team KKR in the IPL at that time, and hence could not promise dates to Mani.”
Shoaib is unfazed and unrepentant. After watching Ratnam’s Raavan, he feels RaaVan will be more of a comedy movie and he is rather interested acting in an action thriller, which Ra.One will be.
This is not the only reason why Shoaib’s autobiography “Controversially Yours” has been making controversies. He also claimed in the book that Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid were not match winners. Tendulkar, Shoaib wrote in the book, was afraid of him!
Shoaib’s autobiography has inspired other cricketers to write about whom they feared in their playing day. Apparently, Nayan Mongia in his forthcoming autobiography has revealed he feared Rahul Dravid taking over his role behind the wickets.
(Amrut Thobbi, an engineering graduate now pursuing Masters in journalism, is an ardent cricket fan. His passion for writing inspired him to give up a sales and marketing job, which he does not regret. By writing on cricket, he wants to relive his dream of becoming a cricketer. He has also worked as a freelance writer in education and technology sectors)
