Zayed in Bollywood's first underwater song

Sep 28, 2008 Subhash K Jha

Mumbai, Sep 28 (IANS) At the moment Zayed Khan has reason to be happy and unhappy. He's happy because he'll soon be shooting the first underwater song sequence ever in Hindi cinema. But inclement weather in Bangkok has held up shooting and the producers are losing a ton of money.

Zayed, who has been stationed in Bangkok and Phuket for the past month, says: "It's never been done before. On the concept level itself it sounds too, too outrageous. The entire cast singing in the deep sea. That's unique, man!"

Hate to burst Zayed's bubble. But decades ago in "Anmol Moti" claiming to be India's first underwater film Jeetendra and Babita sang 'under water', which was actually a swimming pool.

So, yes, "Blue" is the first Bollywood film that will have the entire cast of Sanjay Dutt, Akshay Kumar, Lara, Katrina and Zayed doing a song sequence in the deep sea.

A baffling concept for sure.

Laughs Zayed, "Yes. But you've to see how we're going to do it. The director got the concept from an ad. We all jumped at it. It's not often that you get to do something so unique."

But with the excitement comes the damper. Inclement weather in Bangkok is playing havoc with the "Blue" schedules.

Says the anxious and depressed Zayed, "We knew it was going to rain in Bangkok and Phuket. But not like this! Apparently this area has never had so much rains. Every day we're losing precious time. Today again we're stuck indoors while it pours outside. The producers are losing Rs.2.5 million per day. And moreover we can't extend the shooting because we - Sanju Sir, Akshay and I - can't give combined dates for a long time," said Zayed Saturday.

A good excuse for the unit to bond? "Not really. I'd rather be back home with my wife Malli(Malaika) and son Zidaan. I miss them, specially my son. I want to watch him grow, not be away for long periods from home and miss this phase in my son's life."

Zidaan can't travel with Papa all the time. "He came with my wife to the Bahamas when we were shooting there. But he can't keep travelling all over. He has to develop an immunity system. I do miss my son. But my wife emails me his pictures every day."