Grand Masti on hold for Riteish Deshmukh

In an industry alleged to be driven only by opportunism it is heartening to see some people actually put aside their own interests for emotional reasons. The sequel to Masti entitled Grand Masti was scheduled to take off earlier this week. But now because of Riteish Deshmukh’s father Vilasrao Deshmukh’s critical health condition, the film’s commencement has been put off by a few days. Says a source close to the project, “Grand Masti, the sequel to Masti has been in the writing process for the last one and a half years. Finally writer Milap Zaveri cracked an idea and scripted the sequel. The film brings back the Riteish-Aftab Shivdasani-Vivek Oberoi trio, along with four new girls. Grand Masti was supposed to kickstart this week. Then Riteish’s father fell ill. He can’t be expected to act funny at a time like this.” A suggestion that the film take off without Riteish was also put forward. But producer Ashok Thakeria and director Indra Kumar refused, arguing that a comedy is a happy occasion and therefore all the actors needed to be comfortable. When contacted producer Thakeria said, “We hope to start shooting from the 9 August.We’ve waited 8 years to start the sequel. So a little bit of delay is not a big deal.”