Ekta Kapoor and Akshay Kumar suspect foul play

Akshay Kumar's dashing on-stage stunt at the Balaji Global Indian Film and TV Honors on Saturday night was almost ruined by what the actor and producer Ekta Kapoor believe was out-and-out sabotage.

Says an insider, "It was an act specially choreographed by Milan Luthria unveiling Akki's look for Ekta's Once Upon A Time In Mumbaai 2.

The actor would make an entry in a very stylish way, perform an action scene and leave soon after. The two had even rehearsed a day before at the venue itself."

Everything went on smoothly then. Adds the source, "On the awards night, Akshay's act began with an audio-visual of OUATIM (starring Ajay Devgn and Emraan Hashmi) set to music. When the actor came onstage, the music stopped.

The Khiladi figured out the problem, strolled onto the stage and completed his act as if nothing had happened.

Akshay always tells people that no matter what - the show must go on. It's something he learnt from his father. However, it was obvious that Akshay was visibly upset."

Later, at Ekta's request, Akki sportingly performed again this time to the proper music. According to the source, "When Ekta made enquiries, she was told it was a 'technical glitch' but she feels that it couldn't be possible.

Both feel the music was deliberately stopped. The Balaji head honcho is determined to get to the bottom of this."

Ekta doesn't deny that she believes it to be sabotage, "I am surprised how a technical lapse can happen on a rehearsed act especially if all other acts went smoothly. Why was it that such a thing happened only on Akshay's entry?"

Both ARE convinced that what happened was not an accident but sabotage.

The folks in charge of the background music were outsourced, but a finger of suspicion is being pointed at a producer AK formerly worked with, was close to and had a falling out with.

Back Pain

Because the stylish action sequence had to be done twice, Akki's back pain was aggravated. "It was so bad that he had to cancel an event on Sunday night something he normally never does. He has become a hero in Ekta's books for bailing her out by performing twice for her event. She had no idea he had a bad back, " reveals our source.