SALMAN WON’T BUDGE UNLESS HE’S PAID THE RIGHT AMOUNT

Salman Yusuff Khan became a household name after winning

Between his appearances in the title track of to his debut film

he scaled the heights of popularity. His next release, as a hero, is a family drama aptly titled Aksha Pardasany, the well-known Telegu actress, plays the heroine and the film is set to hit the theatres this Friday.

Promotions are a big part of the present day film releases. All actors are bound to set aside days in their schedule for the same. So, while producers Vipul Devani, D.S. Bhatia and director Sachinder Sharma have been charting out the promotional schedule, senior actors like Shakti Kapoor and national award winner Manoj Joshi have all been participating along with the team. However, Salman Yusuff has been conspicuous by his absence.

“Salman Yusuff never turned up for our music launch last month. We had informed his business manager way in advance and kept requesting him to attend the promotions, but to no avail,” says a miffed Vipul.

“He had promised to participate in all the promotional activities, even though he never attended any. And then one fine day, his business manager Kapil asked us to cough up an exorbitant amount of `15 lakh and said that Salman Yusuff would not be able to attend any of the promotional events unless we paid him. Our film releases on June 9, and there is no time. The prerelease is the most crucial period, and we are unable to create the required buzz as our hero is missing in all the key promotional appearances. This can affect our film at the box office,” says an upset Devani. Despite our best efforts, Salman Yusuff remained unavailable for comment.