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Vashi2Panvel.Com: Navi Mumbai: June 30: ‘All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy’…we have all heard this saying several times in various contexts and aberrations. But it’s not only the naïve school going ‘Jack’ who needs some play but also our film celebrities. Though a few like Ashmit Patel have always been victims of a prank there are veteran pranksters like Ajay Devgan in the film fraternity who practice pranks like practicing a therapy! We spoke to a few film stars and found out about the pranks they’ve played…

Ajay Devgan
Ajay Devgan’s sombre look and his grim demeanour do not give even the slightest hint that he can be the best prankster on the set. But filmstars swear by his pranks. Most recently, Ajay played a prank with Viviek Oberoi while shooting for ‘Kaal’. He recalls,”When everyone was hanging out during a small time Diwali celebration, I set a blazing rocket in Viviek’s direction. Viviek was standing at a distance and was completely oblivious to this mischief. He realized there's something wrong when he heard this hissing sound. Although he was completely shocked but he managed to save himself.” Apparently, the Kurta Viviek was wearing was gifted to him by Ash and he escaped with his Kurta unscathed!

Shahid Kapoor
Lover boy, Shahid is also quite mischievous on the sets. While his all-time victim is Amrita Rao, Shahid is never heard playing pranks with sweetheart Kareena! Shahid informs us about his latest tomfoolery on the sets of Sooraj Barjatya Vivaah. Apparently, Shahid’s make-up man made a steady entry into Amrita Rao's room at night. His face was made up with glow paint. “But the prank failed as Amrita was aware of my mischievous attitude. She screamed, "Shahid, I know it is you!"

Ashmit Patel
The Benares star is more a prank-victim than a prankster and he also admits to being a ‘fool’ on the sets! Ashmit has been made a fool not only by his co-stars but his film director as well. He reminisces how Benares director, Pankaj Parasher played a series of pranks on him while shooting for the film.

“Once a shot required having thandai. Now, these people added ‘bhang’ to it. And, believe me I had seven retakes. By that time I had already attained a ‘high’. People there had a wild laugh! Then, once Saroj Khan and Urmila Matondkar were rehearsing a dance sequence and they ended up in a catfight. I interrupted as a peacemaker only to realize that the fight was actually a hoax.” Ask him if he ever has been on the other side and after a long pause he replies, “The ‘Fight Club’ days were like a party. We used to do a lot of mischief and pull each other’s legs all the time! Once we all did not turn up for a morning shoot. The director, Vicky Chopra, got wild trying to trace us out. None of us were available! Actually, we had already reached the sets on time but had parked our cars at a distance. We went and hid ourselves in a van. Vicky Chopra was relieved when he saw us together!”

Rakesh Roshan
While many directors like Pankaj Parashar encourage mischief and jokes on the sets, Rakesh Roshan is one director who believes otherwise. “I encourage strict discipline on the sets. No one is allowed to play any pranks while working. Once it’s pack-time, the artists are free to indulge in all types of fun and frolic but certainly not while we are working,” he says.

Asha Parekh
Bollywood's most notorious prankster happens to be yesteryear actress Asha Parekh. Her tricks with her co-stars are still talked about. One of her more favourite tricks is when she hid Sunil Dutt's slippers under a chair in a studio. He had to go home barefoot back home that day. And some years later he recovered those slippers while shooting at the same place!

Parmeet Sethi
Actor Parmeet Sethi has been both a prankster and a victim. He has once been on the receiving end of Ajay’s pranks narrates, “We were shooting for this film, Zakhm many years ago. Ajay along with a few others was trying to pull something on me. They were trying to put a mock bomb used during film shoots on my feet. But fortunately, they were unsuccessful as I caught them.”

While he has played a lot of pranks in his long filmi life, he narrates an incident that occurred a week ago while he was shooting for DON that is aired on Star One. “A week ago I played a prank with the executive director of Don. It’s a known fact that I don’t work beyond 9. The director came and told the Executive Director that we need to extend the shoot. So, the crewmembers started requesting me to extend the shoot for a day. I made a big ruckus about it and shouted at everyone on the sets. I threw a lot of attitude at them, which I normally cannot do. After about 30-45 minutes of the begging and pleading I disclosed that it was just a prank and that the shoot is over.”

Swati Pandey
India News Feature Service