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Shah Rukh apologises to Manoj Kumar

“I’M SORRY”: Bollywood star Shah Rukh Khan and yesteryears’ star Manoj Kumar.

MUMBAI: Bollywood star Shah Rukh Khan on Friday tendered an unqualified apology to yesteryears’ star Manoj Kumar who had taken a strong exception to a sequence in the newly-released film “Om Shanti Om” starring the younger actor.

“I was completely wrong.... If he is hurt, I apologise,” said Shah Rukh.

“I called him (Manoj Kumar) in the afternoon, and the first thing he said to me was, ‘It is no big deal, son’,” Shah Rukh told reporters here.

“People do parody.... It is a done thing,” said Shah Rukh, adding that Manoj Kumar had every right to say anything to him.

Shah Rukh’s apology came after Manoj Kumar expressed his annoyance over a sequence in “Om Shanti Om” which spoofs the Bollywood of the 1970s when Manoj Kumar ruled the silver screen.

Manoj Kumar is angry over the sequence in which he is shown being thrashed by policemen outside a cinema. In the movie, Shah Rukh’s character steals Manoj Kumar’s pass to attend a film premiere, and the police, ostensibly not recognising Manoj Kumar, beat him up.

Manoj Kumar’s role in this sequence has been played by a look-alike “duplicate”. Shah Rukh plays the lead role in the movie which has been produced by him and directed by Farah Khan.

Offended by the sequence, Manoj Kumar’s lawyer had said on Thursday that the veteran actor was contemplating legal action against the makers of `Om Shanti Om’.

“Manoj Kumar has been offended by a certain sequence in the film, and he asked me whether any legal action was possible,” said the lawyer, Mukesh Vashi.

However, Manoj Kumar said, “Indian audiences had made Manoj Kumar into an icon.... That icon has been wounded, made fun of.... Moral action is more important than legal action.”

Shah Rukh said, “I should have been over-careful.... I should have called him earlier (to tell him about the spoof).”

Director Farah Khan, who was also present, said, “I am to blame for this. I wrote that scene.”

About Manoj Kumar’s remark that it was unpatriotic of the ‘Om Shanti Om’ producer to make fun of him, Shah Rukh said, “I think he did not mean it. He was angry....”

Asked whether Manoj Kumar was over-reacting, he said it was not so. “He belongs to a different era. People from that era have a different way of talking. If I were old, I would react in the same way,” said the younger actor.

“His achievements are marvellous. We grew up watching his movies.... I have immense respect for him,” added Shah Rukh.

“Tomorrow we will go to his place and have a cup of tea,” said Farah. She said she offered to cut the scene when she called Manoj Kumar on Friday but he said there was no need. - PTI

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