Sources:- Times Of India, DNA India.
Aishwarya Rai Bachchan has been sacked from Madhur Bhandarkar’s “Heroine.” Her crime? She got pregnant!
According to the media, Madhur planned to wrap up the film by the end of July and knowing that, Aishwarya gave the required dates to the project. When Ash’s pregnancy was announced, she assured the director that she will complete the film no matter what, given that she is just in her 4th month of pregnancy and (given that a lot of other actresses have worked until their 7th month) can easily complete the film by the in the stipulated time. But she was rather shocked by the director’s sudden bizarre demands.
The director’s ridiculous demands after Aishwarya’s pregnancy announcement➔ To extend the schedule from 2 months to 6 months (which would definitely make it impossible for Aishwarya)
➔ To do two item songs (!!)
➔ To do a bathing scene under a waterfall (which she has never done in her entire career)
➔ To smoke on-screen
All of these above demands were made to Aishwarya only AFTER her pregnancy announcement… they were not mentioned when the director gave her a script reading.
And obviously Ash wouldn’t agree to those ridiculous demands because motherhood is more important to her than any role, so he sacked her!
An official press release from UTV says - “Heroine has been put off indefinitely, considering Aishwarya’s health” - Considering her health? She is just pregnant… that doesn’t mean she is ill or handicapped! Are we still living in a male chauvinist society?
Will Aishwarya sue Madhur Bhandarkar?“It has long been established that unfavourable treatment due to pregnancy is a form of gender discrimination. Ketan Gupta of LegalEye Associates says, “As per the constitution, discrimination on the basis of gender can invite legal action. However, this is subject to contractual terms and conditions agreed upon by both parties.” Advocate Rahul V adds, “Generally in the glamour world, contracts stipulate that they can be terminated if the model/actor gets pregnant during the course of an assignment and is not deemed fit to deliver as per the requirements of her role. Most contracts also have a clause where the actor/model is supposed to be paid a certain compensation for the time invested in the project before it is terminated.” In this particular case there is no contract between the actress and the production house, but Ash has shot for the film and wants to complete it. The filmmaker, however, is not relenting.”
Will justice be done in Bollywood?In 1996, Hollywood actress Hunter Tylo was cast in “Melrose Place.” However, she was fired by the producer Aaron Spelling prior to filming, when she announced she was pregnant. The actress sued Spelling on grounds of discrimination for being pregnant and won $4.8 million from a Los Angeles jury. So can a similar judgement be expected in our Bollywood?
Currently, this is the hot topic. Heroine is trending on Twitter.
