Hollywood superstar Johnny Depp refuses to come to India

Spicezee Bureau

Mumbai, May 19: Awed by the swashbuckling success of Oscar favourite ‘Slumdog Millionaire’, while most of the Hollywood actors are eagerly vying to romance the storytelling charms of Bollywood, screen scorcher Johnny Depp begs to differ. The dishy actor, who was all set to play the lead in Mira Nair’s much-anticipated ‘Shantaram’, has now emerged as the major reason for the film being stalled.And it’s not the character or any moolah hurdles that’s discouraging Depp from giving his final nod, but the location where a plum portion of the film is set—India. Uncertain about the security level, Depp’s refusal to come to India has now been understood as the chief concern of the filmmakers. Buzz has it that Depp became uninterested in coming to the country after he heard about an incident that happened with Brangelina when they came to India for the shoot of ‘A Mighty Heart’. The film shoot here hit headline for unsavory reasons after Brangelina’s bodyguards were arrested for being violent with over-inquisitive journalists. Confirming the news, Irrfan Khan, who has been roped into play the role of a musician in the film, said, “From what I understand, Johnny Depp wasn’t too keen to come to India. Brad Pitt and he are good friends. What happened with Brand and Jolie in Mumbai scared him off, apparently". Depp is even said to have requested Nair to recreate Mumbai in Mexico, but she refused to budge, saying that the heat dust and the magic of Mumbai streets wouldn’t be reflected well in sets. So for now the stalemate continues between Nair and Depp. Nevertheless with rumours spurring that Nair has been ousted from the project and a new director is soon to be appointed by the writer Gregory David Roberts, only time knows the fate of this epic in the making.