Never wrote open letter to PM about Dawood: Sunil Grover

By Subhash K. Jha

Mumbai, Jan 19 (IANS) Actor-comedian Sunil Grover, the leading man and the only point of interest in the much-discussed Dawood Ibrahim satire "Coffee With D", says he never wrote an open letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi urging him to nab the underworld don -- as was portrayed by the makers of the movie.

In December last year, an open letter by Sunil to Modi was circulated in the media. Its aim was to urge the government to expedite the process of Dawood's trial for his involvement in the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts.

The letter was shared with IANS by the publicist of "Coffee with D" -- a film which revolves around a journalist's attempt to fix an interview with Dawood and how he manages it in the end.

Now, as Sunil has kept himself away from the movie's publicity, he says he never wrote the letter.

"I never wrote that open letter to Modiji. Anyone who knows me would know that it isn't my language at all. The film's makers released that letter without my consent," Sunil said.

The film's makers -- director Vishal Mishra and producer Vinod Rahani -- have been claiming that they were receiving threat calls. And they have been upset that Sunil has not promoted the film at all.

The actor justifies it by saying: "It's very simple. I haven't been shown the film. I don't know what the content is. I asked the producer-director Vishal Mishra repeatedly to be shown the film, and he kept saying I'll be shown the film."

"But eventually, he didn't show it to me. Aaj-kal-aaj-kal mein waqt nikal gaya (Time just went by). Now it's too late."

Why was he not shown the film?

"I don't know," Sunil said. "Only they can answer that. But I ceased to promote the film when I realised they won't show it to me."

Sunil is best known for his comic act on Kapil Sharma's show.