Sharad Kelkar, an actor, recalls how Priyadarshan’s 2004 comedy Hulchul duped him into accepting a role. After spending nearly a week on the set doing nothing, he said that he had been duped into committing to a song sequence and scenes with Kareena Kapoor.
Sharad Kelkar 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 modeling work was drying up. He said that he was paid around Rs 2500 per day for the project.
In the interview, 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 modeling stuff and ads. Then, after a year, even that was gone, because a new lot had come. I was struggling with 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…”
Even though it was said that Sharad wouldn’t ‘get the girl’ at the climax, he was excited about the opportunity. “For a newcomer, it feels like you have arrived.” But, he said, he realized something was off a few days later. “So, I went to the sets. The first day, I was sitting. The second day, I was sitting. On the third day, I was sitting. And I could see Amrish Puri, Suniel Shetty, Jackie Shroff, and Kareena Kapoor. I was in awe of everybody. But I just kept waiting. I was getting a per-day payment, so I wasn’t very bothered. 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. And that’s how I did Sattu. And I realised ke katt gaya mera. 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 used to dub his character. He said that although he had performed it that way on set as well, they had someone else perform it because they knew Sharad wouldn’t dub.“For a few years, I was reluctant to accept that I was there in the film, but I realized that everyone does this, it doesn’t matter if I had to do it as well,” he said.
Sharad Kelkar’s experience of being duped into accepting a role in ‘Hulchul’ is a cautionary tale for all aspiring actors. However, the actor’s decision to refuse to dub for the film in protest is a reminder that actors have agency and can demand better treatment.