Subhash K. Jha

This is hard to believe. But writer-director Anees Bazmi, whose new romantic comedy "Welcome" is hurtling to a completion, claims that the showdown between Nana Patekar and Akshay Kumar reported a few days ago was nothing but a case of the reel being mistaken for the real.

"The fight that people saw was actually part of a scene that Nanaji and Akshay were doing together. To make it look more real we decided to let them do their own thing instead of allowing the action director to orchestrate the two actors' moves.

"During the on-camera scuffle, things got a bit out of hand. Bas, people put their own versions of the story together," Bazmi told IANS.

Bazmi, poor guy sandwiched between a temperamental veteran and an egoistic star, admits the supposedly cinematic scuffle looked like the real thing to bystanders.

"But it's not possible for Akshay to altercate with someone so senior and respected," protested Bazmi. "He respects Nana too much to even raise his voice except for the camera."

Incidentally, this isn't the first time that Nana has got into a situation with a co-star. He has had a long history of altercations.