Punjabi Gabru
Elite
Actor-student kiss enrages Symbiosis
The cast of the film Yeh Saali Zindagi had to face an agitated and angry crowd at the Symbiosis Institute of Mass Communication (SIMC) during its annual festival 'Madhyam' after the film's leading actor Arunoday Singh kissed a girl, who came up to the stage for am impromptu dare.
On Friday, Arunoday, who is the grandson of senior Congress leader Arjun Singh, his co-actor Chitrangada Singh and director Sudhir Mishra were at SIMC's Viman Nagar campus to promote their upcoming film. According to eyewitnesses, the emcee cracked a joke about the record number of kissing scenes in the film, to which Arunoday said that he would kiss any girl who would come on stage.
Within a few seconds, a girl walked up to the stage and Arunoday kissed her for 15-20 seconds.
This angered the college authorities and they got into an argument with the film's crew.
College authorities, said that the act was a cheap publicity. They also said that the team had come prepared to carry out the stunt and it was not a decision taken at the spur of the moment.
SIMC Director Anupam Siddhartha told MiD DAY that he was furious with the actor and the cast of the film for their "unpardonable" act.
"I was backstage when it happened and I don't believe all this was impromptu. I think they planned it well in advance as a low-cost means of promoting their film," he said. "They are operating on a shoestring budget and I understand that they want to get publicity free of cost but I wish they hadn't used our college as a means of achieving that. But I can't blame actors, who haven't tasted success yet and are desperate."
The Director also said that even tough the film's crew apologised several times after the incident, the damage was already done.
The college authorities are in the process of drafting a protocol for any future visits by any film crews for promotion purposes. "To avoid any such embarrassment in the future, we are drafting a protocol where all film crews invited will sign a document stating what they will do and what they aren't allowed to do on campus," Siddhartha said.
When contacted Arunoday, he said, "It was just a peck on the lips because the audience demanded it and I did not realise that it would become such a big issue. And they were not elementary kids, they are responsible for their actions."
The actor added that the crew was not asked to leave the campus immediately instead they were present for over an hour after the incident.
"If the institute had an issue, they should have spoken to me," he said.
Director Sudhir Mishra apologised for hurting the sensibilities of college authorities but defended his team by stating it was an impromptu act.
"I didn't ask the girl to walk up on stage and she knew what was coming. It was just a harmless impromptu dare and I'm sorry if it hurt someone's sensibilities. But we live in the 21st century and I think these things are not such a big deal," Mishra said. "And this wasn't a publicity stunt; we don't need to do these things to promote our film."
The cast of the film Yeh Saali Zindagi had to face an agitated and angry crowd at the Symbiosis Institute of Mass Communication (SIMC) during its annual festival 'Madhyam' after the film's leading actor Arunoday Singh kissed a girl, who came up to the stage for am impromptu dare.
On Friday, Arunoday, who is the grandson of senior Congress leader Arjun Singh, his co-actor Chitrangada Singh and director Sudhir Mishra were at SIMC's Viman Nagar campus to promote their upcoming film. According to eyewitnesses, the emcee cracked a joke about the record number of kissing scenes in the film, to which Arunoday said that he would kiss any girl who would come on stage.
Within a few seconds, a girl walked up to the stage and Arunoday kissed her for 15-20 seconds.
This angered the college authorities and they got into an argument with the film's crew.
College authorities, said that the act was a cheap publicity. They also said that the team had come prepared to carry out the stunt and it was not a decision taken at the spur of the moment.
SIMC Director Anupam Siddhartha told MiD DAY that he was furious with the actor and the cast of the film for their "unpardonable" act.
"I was backstage when it happened and I don't believe all this was impromptu. I think they planned it well in advance as a low-cost means of promoting their film," he said. "They are operating on a shoestring budget and I understand that they want to get publicity free of cost but I wish they hadn't used our college as a means of achieving that. But I can't blame actors, who haven't tasted success yet and are desperate."
The Director also said that even tough the film's crew apologised several times after the incident, the damage was already done.
The college authorities are in the process of drafting a protocol for any future visits by any film crews for promotion purposes. "To avoid any such embarrassment in the future, we are drafting a protocol where all film crews invited will sign a document stating what they will do and what they aren't allowed to do on campus," Siddhartha said.
When contacted Arunoday, he said, "It was just a peck on the lips because the audience demanded it and I did not realise that it would become such a big issue. And they were not elementary kids, they are responsible for their actions."
The actor added that the crew was not asked to leave the campus immediately instead they were present for over an hour after the incident.
"If the institute had an issue, they should have spoken to me," he said.
Director Sudhir Mishra apologised for hurting the sensibilities of college authorities but defended his team by stating it was an impromptu act.
"I didn't ask the girl to walk up on stage and she knew what was coming. It was just a harmless impromptu dare and I'm sorry if it hurt someone's sensibilities. But we live in the 21st century and I think these things are not such a big deal," Mishra said. "And this wasn't a publicity stunt; we don't need to do these things to promote our film."
