Sharad Kelkar recalls being duped into accepting role in Hulchul, says after 6 days of doing nothing on set, he refused to dub for the film in protest

Sharad Kelkar recalled his less-than-happy experience working on Priyadarshan's 2004 film Hulchul, and narrated how things became increasingly bizarre on set over the course of a week.

Sharad Kelkar in a still from Hulchul.

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Actor Sharad Kelkar recalled how he was duped into accepting a role in the 2004 comedy film Hulchul, directed by Priyadarshan. He said that he was pitched a song sequence and scenes opposite Kareena Kapoor, but after spending nearly a week on set doing nothing, he realised that he’d been conned.

In protest, Sharad refused to dub for the film, and the producers enlisted somebody else. In the film, Sharad appears as the character Satyendra ‘Sattu’ Mishra, who is supposed to get married to Kareena Kapoor’s character, before she falls for Akshaye Khanna’s character. In an appearance on Cyrus Broacha’s podcast, Sharad said that he really needed the money at the time, as modelling work was drying up. He said that he was paid around Rs 2500 per day for the project.

Also read | Sharad Kelkar recalls ‘shocking’ first day on Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Ram Leela, thought, ‘Kitna paisa waste kar rahe hain…’

In the AMA segment of the podcast, he was asked, “How did you land the iconic role of Dr Sattu in Hungama?” Sharad replied, “I came to Mumbai in 2002. I was doing some modelling stuff, and ads. Then, after a year, even that was gone, because a new lot had come. I was struggling about photoshoots and all. Between that, the chief AD called me and said they’re making a film, it’s a multi-starrer, and it’s a very important role in the film. I was a naive, new guy, no idea about the culture. So, I asked what the film is. He said it’s called Hulchul, and you’ll have an engagement song, a few scenes with Kareena…”

Sharad was excited about the opportunity, even though he was told that he wouldn’t ‘get the girl’ in the climax. “For a newcomer, it feels like you have arrived.” But, he said, he realised something was off a few days later. “So, I went to the sets. First day, I was sitting. Second day, I was sitting. Third day, I was sitting. And I could see Amrish Puri, Suniel Shetty, Jackie Shroff, Kareena Kapoor, Arshad Warsi… I was in awe of everybody. But I just kept waiting. I was getting a per-day payment, so I wasn’t very bothered (about not having anything to do). I needed the money. It was around Rs 2500. But then, five days passed. The shoot was going on, but they weren’t calling me. They’d told me Priyadarshan is impatient and he likes to improvise. They train you, ke tera katne wala hai (that you are being fooled). And that’s how I did Sattu. And I realised ke katt gaya mera (that I was conned). Then I told them I wouldn’t dub, and they got it dubbed from someone else.”

Sharad laughed at the memory, and the feeble voice that his character was dubbed with. He said he had performed it like that on set as well, but because they knew Sharad wouldn’t dub, they got someone else to do it. “For a few years, I was reluctant to accept that I was there in the film, but I realised that everyone does this, it doesn’t matter if I had to do it as well,” he said.

Sharad refused to identify the AD who got him on board the film, but said that he was the producer’s son. Also starring Akshay Khanna, Paresh Rawal, Arbaaz Khan and Shakti Kapoor, Hulchul emerged as a hit.

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