I can't watch a girl being abused, says Ruslaan Mumtaz

Ruslaan Mumtaz may not be in the position  to walk out of a film, but he decided to take a stand. Now isn’t that something! Ruslaan who is shooting for Ajay Lohan’s film Luv Ki Maa Ki has informed the producer that he will not be a part of the project if the director isn’t replaced. The actor is fed up with his director’s abusive ways and has told the producers he won’t shoot until there’s a new captain of the ship. He took the stand after Ajay let loose a string of abuses at his co-star newcomer Rashmi Singh for coming five minutes late on set.

Ruslaan says, “I cannot work with someone who doesn’t know how to respect a girl. Ajay was extremely rude and arrogant to me, but I ignored his behaviour.

But when he crossed the line with Rashmi, I decided to take a stand.” According to sources, the director would often delay the shoot and make the actors wait.

Says a source from the unit, “He would spend the time gossiping and wasting time instead of focusing on the shoot.”

Ruslaan reveals, “One day the 7 am schedule started at 2 pm! I would rather focus on my shoot than gossip. But our director was constantly talking about other things than stuff related to our film. This was extremely demoralising for the whole unit.” Supporting his co-star who is a newcomer from Delhi, Ruslaan adds, “She came five minutes late on the set and Ajay got abusive and used extremely foul language. He said he would hit her and before he got physical I had to forcibly stop him. Rashmi was in tears and she had no one to support her on a set with 40-50 men watching the only girl being verbally abused.”

Despite the deadlock, he doesn’t want to put his producer in jeopardy. “My problem is not with the makers but the director. I have told them I will finish the film only if they get a new director. I have worked with people like Satish Kaushik and Vikram Bhatt who treat their actors like their children. After that to work with someone like Ajay was a nightmare!”