A stunned Bollywood looks on

<div class="section1"><div class="Normal"><script language="javascript">doweshowbellyad=0; </script><br />If there ever were to be a popularity contest in Bollywood, at least filmmaker Kaizad Gustad would not be winning it. And the current fiasco after Nadia Khan’s death isn''t making matters easy. <br /><br /><img align="left" src="/photo/716445.cms" alt="/photo/716445.cms" border="0" />"People are shocked as to how he could have been so callous," says trade expert Taran Adarsh."This incident will show Bollywood in very poor light abroad." <br /><br />This is not the first time that the 36-year-old filmmaker has attracted media attention where none was needed. Last year, his feature <span style="" font-style:="" italic="">Boom</span>, widely considered the biggest letdown of the year, was in the news constantly for the wrong reasons. Payment problems apart, there were reports of his differences with the actors. <br /><br />Within no time, the film graduate from New York University had gained the reputation of being arrogant. Those who haven''t worked with him don''t quite know why. Those who have refuse to comment. Several actors we spoke to and who have starred in his films <span style="" font-style:="" italic="">Bombay Boys</span> and <span style="" font-style:="" italic="">Boom</span> declined to discuss him. <br /><br />"No one wants to close ranks. At the same time, there is no love lost for him either," says box office expert Indu Mirani. "He''s largely seen as a Johnny-come-lately who tells the industry what to do," she says. <br /><br />She agrees that part of the resentment is because Gustad, with no credentials, could raise an unthinkable amount of Rs 17 crore for a product like <span style="" font-style:="" italic="">Boom</span>, even as others considered more talented struggle for funds. <br /><br />The only person to sympathise with Gustad is fashion designer Tarun Tahiliani, who featured briefly in <span style="" font-style:="" italic="">Boom</span>. "Gustad is a perfectionist, who had organised everything for the shooting incredibly," Tahiliani says, all praise for the young director. <br /><br />"Why go after him? Accidents happen. We don''t know what happened. No one stands on the tracks with a camera. As for his lying, people panic in such situations," he says. <br /><br />As for his film <span style="" font-style:="" italic="">Mumbai</span> <span style="" font-style:="" italic="">Central</span>, for which Khan was assisting him, very few feel the project is likely to be completed. Though Mallika Sherawat was reported to have been roped in for a role in the film, her PR person denied the actor was ever approached. <br /><br />And how will the incident impact Gustad''s career? "What career?" Mirani asks with a poker-straight expression. On a serious note, she says it''s all forgive-and-forget when someone''s successful. <br /><br />Salman Khan would agree.</div> </div>