New Delhi:
Vijay Raaz has been fired from Ajay Devgn’s Son of Sardaar 2. The actor was dismissed from the project due to alleged misbehaviour on set. However, Vijay refuted the allegations and claimed that he was kicked out of the movie for not greeting Ajay on the set. In an interaction with Pinkvilla, the actor said, “I reached the location before time for trial. I reached the van, and Ravi Kishan came to meet me. The EP, Ashish, and the producer Kumar Mangat came to meet me, followed by director Vijay Arora. I stepped out of the van and spotted Ajay Devgn standing around 25 metres away. I didn’t go to greet him as he was busy, and I continued to speak to my friends around. 25 minutes later, Mr Kumar Mangat came to me and said, ‘Aap film se nikal jaaye, hum aapko nikal rahe hai’.”
Vijay Raaz said he was removed just 30 minutes after reaching the sets of Son of Sardaar 2. He added, “The only misconduct from my end is, I didn’t greet Mr. Ajay Devgn. I didn’t even meet the crew, and these are the only people I interacted with. I was removed from the film 30 minutes after reaching the sets, as I didn’t greet Ajay Devgn. These are powerful people, and the chatter of misconduct doesn’t arise at all.”
On the other hand, Son of Sardaar 2‘s co-producer Kumar Mangat Pathak, told the same portal that Vijay Raaz was fired due to his behaviour, which included demanding larger rooms and overcharging for spot boys. He said, “Yes, it’s true that we have removed Vijay Raaz from the film because of his behaviour on the sets. He demanded bigger rooms and a vanity van and also overcharged us for the spot boys. In fact, his spot boy was paid Rs.20,000 per night which is more than any big actor. The UK is an expensive place, and everyone got standard rooms during the shoot, but he demanded premium suites.”
The producer said, “When we tried explaining the costing scenario to him, he refused to understand, and spoke rudely. His constant response was, ‘Aap logo ne mujhe approach kiya, main kaunsa saamne se aya kaam maangne’ (You guys approached me. When did I come to you asking for work?). While we tried to accommodate all his demands, the behaviour kept getting worse, as his demands never ended. He started to demand two cars for a 3 person staff to travel for as well. How can we do that? When the EP (Executive Producer) said no, he was rude with the EP. After all the discussions, we decided to remove him from the film.”
Reacting to Vijay Raaz’s statement about Ajay Devgn, Kumar Mangat Pathak added, “Ajay Devgn isn’t someone who is waiting to be greeted by people. He always likes to be surrounded by creative people and treats everyone with respect. The story of him being removed for not greeting Ajay Devgn is false. We suffered a loss of at least Rs 2 crore for removing Vijay Raaz from the film and we would not take such a step for small matters. His behaviour was a major area of concern and there is no place for disrespect on the sets of our film, as we work like a family. He constantly told all our EPs and even me that he isn’t in need of doing Son of Sardaar 2, and he was doing it only because we approached him. He kept demanding bigger rooms, despite knowing that the rooms cost a bomb in the UK. He refused to cooperate. The attitude is a problem and even we didn’t want to associate with a person having such mentality.”
Vijay Raaz has been replaced by Sanjay Mishra, confirmed Kumar Mangat Pathak.
