Mumbai: Veteran filmmaker Mahesh Bhatt today clarified in the media that he is not responsible for getting the controversial Mohammad Asif-ex Veena Malik to India. “Let me clarify this, that I have no role to play in Veena Malik’s either coming to India, or finding a name in the entertainment space,” (sic) Bhatt specified in an interview about the Pakistani starlet.
Apparently, some anti-India tweets from Veena, including one which said “India sucks” have put the filmmaker in a defensive position, after Veena approached him for help. “If she has made a statement as shocking as this, it is indeed heart-breaking to the people (of India) who welcomed her with open arms,” (sic) said Bhatt.
Turns out to be that the real man clandestinely responsible for Veena landing in India is not Mahesh Bhatt, but Bollywood’s only PR guru Dale Bhagwagar! This was revealed by Bhagwagar more than three years after Veena landed her part in Bigg Boss 4 on Colours.
Tweets from the publicist finally put the record in place and may bring a closure to the voices against Bhatt.
“Veena Malik landed in India not because of Bhattsaab, but because of a cricket match-fixing controversy in which she unsuccessfully tried to implicate one of my then PR clients, actress Neetu Chandra. I decided to blow it out of proportion for the sake of mileage for my client in national media in India,” (sic) admitted the PR specialist.
He went on to explain, “Veena bagged Bigg Boss purely because of that controversy. In fact, I was gracious enough to even pass on her number, which I got from the media, to some casting guys.”
Bhagwagar informed that both Neetu and Veena were invited by the production house Endemol for Bigg Boss 4. The offer for Neetu came through him. He discussed it with her and later declined it on her behalf. Veena agreed to the offer and came from Pakistan to India with Bollywood dreams in her eyes. The rest is history!
Coincidentally, even Ashmit Patel was Bhagwagar’s PR client for three months during Bigg Boss 4. “I’ve never spoken about all this before. But this recent controversy targeting our respected Bhattsaab sounded hilarious to me, so I decided to reveal the reality,” (sic) stated the publicity expert.