Spats are perhaps the best fodder of entertainment news, especially in Bollywood. Often there will be fleeting news of star rivalries and intellectual disagreements. Recently there has been much buzz about directors having visible troubles with their producers. Producer-Director teams are often celebrated for their fine team work, but sometimes troubles surface in the much heavenly abode, turning things pale, passive or even nasty.
Koimoi brings to you a few of famous war sagas between Directors and their favorite producers.
Vidhu Vinod Chopra-Rajkumar Hirani

We aren’t hinting at any overt fight between these two. Just simply wondering what exactly happened with this brilliant Munnabhai team! When the much shocking news was announced audiences were taken aback. Rajkumar Hirani, who is synonymous with the Munnabhai series, was replaced for their next film. The third film has been tentatively titled Munnabhai Chale Delhi and will be directed by Subhash Kapoor. It is joyous news that our favorite Munnabhai and Circuit will hit the screens soon, but at the same time one cannot help but wonder what will Munnabhai be without Hirani. Perhaps Raju’s extensive involvement with P.K., which is being produced by Aamir Khan, appeared to Chopra as a lack of dedication towards Munnabhai. The duo hasn’t really hinted at any animosity but all doesn’t look very good!
Farah Khan- SRK

This became a full fledged public war between the two best buddies. Farah Kahn and Shah Rukh Khan absolutely adored each other for a long time. When Farah decided to step into direction, SRK picked up her story and produced it. They gave huge hits like Main Hoon Na and Om Shanti Om. Sadly, some evil eye struck their happy friendship. Farah and SRK started having problems when he wasn’t apparently very happy with the script of Tees Mar Khan. Farah following her brother Sajid’s cue went on to cast Akshay Kumar in the film, who surely is one of SRK’s biggest rival in the tinsel town. The problems got more serious when Farah’s hubby Shirish Kunder and SRK landed in a fight at a party. The media attention followed them with their shutterbugs. However, with persistent intervention of Gauri Khan and Karan Johar – a grand filmy patch up occurred and the war is all in the past.
Abhishek Kapoor and Farhan Akhtar

Theirs was the most terrible break ups of sorts. Introducing epic bromance in Bollywood with a musical touch of rock, they delivered one of the most classic films in recent times – Rock On. Farhan who had already made an image as an ace director with Dil Chahta Hai, was the heartthrob of the nation strumming guitar and humming songs. Launched as an actor and singer with this film, Farhan and Abhishek had over emphatic love between them. It all went wrong when Akhtar cancelled out Rock On’s much awaited sequel. Following that, when Abhishek teamed up with Chetan Bhagat for Kai Po Che, Farhan wasn’t especially keen on producing it either. Abhishek was so convinced of the script that he went on make the film anyway with UTV. This fall out recently saw an emotional patch up when Farhan mended their fissured relationship by attending the success party of Kai Po Che. All’s well that ends well.
Aamir Khan and Reema Kagti

No one who works in Bollywood is oblivious to Mr Perfectionist Khan’s finicky nature when it comes to work. Reema Kagti though in awe of Aamir had an argument with the actor over certain portions in their film Talaash. The actor was unimpressed with a couple of scenes in the later half of the film and wanted then to re-shoot. Kagti however flatly refused holding her ground. The promotional activity of the film was kept to bare minimum with Aamir doing very little compared to his over indulging self. Both Kagti and Khan rejected the news of their differences as media crafted baseless news.
Aamir Khan and Amole Gupte

Gupte’s story and Aamir’s vision gave Bollywood a masterpiece like Taare Zameen Par. The film went on to be applauded and appreciated. But four months later, surfaced an entirely different issue. Gupte who was initially directing the film had shot a significant part of the film which Aamir wasn’t pleased with. He decided to take from Gupte, the director’s seat and made it according to his vision. Aamir went on to re-shoot most of Gupte’s work. Reduced to being a Creative Director of a film that was his story ended up with Gupte feeling betrayed. Their problem was sappy and emotional. Though having the same radical style of work, these men disagreed on many things leading to a spat of sorts. Aamir also had major issues with Anusha Rizvi, the director of Peepli Live, who accused Aamir of hogging the rightful limelight of the film. Of course, to be cinematically perfect, you might have to be a flawed human. Overall perfection is a Utopian demand.
Intellectual differences to petty personal tiffs, it is hard to survive friendships in this land of fuss and feathers. Problems that crop up often erode years of strong relations. Altercations, brawls just remind us again – Yahan sab ho sakta hai, Yeh hai Bollywood meri Jaan!