#BigStory! Confusion, comedy, chaos with B-Town names

What’s in a name, Shakespeare had quipped in ‘Romeo & Juliet’. Well, TV actor Karan Kundrra is definitely not in agreement with the famous English playwright-poet-actor. In fact, we are willing to bet our last penny that he is still tearing his hair out after people recently mistook him for Raj Kundra, who is in judicial custody for a pornography case. Karan had put up a post, wherein he clearly didn’t seem amused. “My friends in the US brought this error to my notice. I also found people writing nasty things to me on my social media pages. Initially, I took it as a joke, as this confusion has been a part of my existence for a long time. People write Karan Kundrra for Raj Kundra and even use my name to refer to as Shilpa Shetty’s husband. But it went out of hand when they started using my name and picture in reports related to the pornography racket,” he wrote.

Think of it, several celebrities have found themselves to be a part of a comedy (frankly, comedy is not the apt word here) of errors and consequently landed up in embarrassing hotspots which they haven’t forgotten till date–blame it on their shared names. Many from that list are still being tortured (perhaps torture is the right word), even if some situations have been hilarious. Is there a flip side to these mix-ups? Or is it just something they’ll have to live with unless they change their name or at least the spelling? Let’s debate.

Let’s get another Karan straight into the picture. Karan Oberoi of ‘A Band Of Boys’ fame said he has found himself in funny instances where people felt that he was Karan Johar. “For example, I got a call from someone pleading that I should cast him in my film. The caller told me that I had made ‘Kuch Kuch Hota Hai’ and he wanted to be cast in a movie like that. After several attempts, I managed to somewhat drive home that I was not Karan Johar but Karan Oberoi. He was still not very convinced, though”.

Sussanne Khan’s sister, jewellery designer Farah Khan Ali and the choreographer-turned-director Farah Khan are not Siamese twins but convey to each other ASAP when they get an enquiry for the other. Farah Khan Ali relayed, “She gets many jewellery orders and I get many models wanting to make an entry in Bollywood and many scripts which are meant for her. But let me tell you this… once, someone thought that her husband Shirish Kunder was my husband. But the biggest thing that happened was when there was a police complaint order against her, Raveena Tandon and Bharti Singh (An FIR has been registered against the three in Mankapur police station in Nagpur in February 2020 for allegedly hurting sentiments of a community), the complaint papers came to my house!”

Is there a way out? Have some of them felt that they should either change their name or spell it differently? Bollywood’s favourite numerologist Sanjay B Jumaani told ETimes that he had a case where the concerned person said that he has had enough. “Noted play artiste Feroz Khan came to me saying that he wanted his spelling changed because it was felt by many that he is Feroz Khan, the filmmaker. I changed his spelling to get it to a better number and he now spells his name with an ‘e’ behind Feroz, to write it as Feroze. These things happen. Like I was also confused between Prachi Desai (”Once Upon A Time in Mumbaai’) and Prachee Shah (of ‘Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi’) for a certain time”.

How does this Ram aur Shyam situation play out? Hasn’t the person on the other side seen the ‘Dayavan’ maker Feroz Khan? Or say, hasn’t the person on the other side seen the ‘Main Hoon Na’ maker Farah Khan? We mean, both Feroz Khan and Farah Khan are extremely famous. A source explains, “The person at the other end has seen Farah Khan but when he gets a number that belongs to Farah Khan or the address where Farah Khan stays, he gets over-excited and does not check. We are still a very starstruck society. We are still enamoured, err…blinded by arc lights and glamour”. So what happens? Says the source, “Well, the person at the other end starts spamming the phone or starts sending parcels and letters, and worse still, sometimes even lands up at the address that he has acquired (obviously from a source who is himself not much in the know).

Karan Oberoi further said that Karan Grover (another Karan in this business, of ‘Woh Rehne Waali Mehlon Ki’ fame) is his close friend and Grover has undergone several muddles when he was thought of as Karan Singh Grover (who’s married to Bipasha Basu), but at least when it comes to him, it has never struck him to change his identity as he treasures it. “There are many Karans in the industry but honestly, many of them have changed their name to Karan. Why should I change my name? Their real name is not Karan. Around 2000, after I entered showbiz, it was suddenly considered very cool to have your name as Karan”.

Woes continue: Kunal Kapoor (of ‘Rang De Basanti’ fame, who’s married to Amitabh Bachchan’s niece Naina Bachchan) and Kunaal Roy Kapur (of ‘Delhi Belly’, brother of Siddharth Roy Kapur) have made a pact of sorts that they shall inform each other when someone is looking out for them with a jigsaw puzzle in his head. Kunal Kapoor told ETimes, “I have had text conversations with people only to realise that it was meant for Kunaal Roy Kapur. Now, we forward such messages to each other. Actually, there’s a famous chef and investment banker too by my name”.

Wait till you hear this! Jennifer Mistry of ‘Taarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashmah’ has informed us that she was finalised for a role on phone as the person at the other end thought that he was signing up Jennifer Winget of ‘Beyhadh’ fame.

The most sensitive time and the biggest predicament, however, was faced by senior actor Sushant Singh (who anchored the crime show ‘Savdhaan India’ for the longest time). Sushant Singh, when contacted, said, “When Sushant Singh Rajput passed away last year on June 14, I realised that he has now become a part of my life. He was not just a good actor, but from whatever I had heard about him, he was a fine human being too. Things addressed to him were coming to me, offers meant for him were brought to me. I guess it was vice-versa at his end. I made it a point to clear the air to everyone who goofed up. When SSR had just entered the industry, I remember being asked on a red carpet to talk about a film that I was not doing; and then, one day, things went really crazy when a casting guy insisted to come home for a role that I wasn’t accepting because it was not suitable for my age. Despite telling him the reason for refusal on the phone, he was just not ready to listen. He said, ‘Nahi sir, aap hi ho, hum ko aap hi chahiye (you are the only one we’ve chosen, we want only you)’. The guy didn’t even come alone, he brought the film’s director to my house! When they saw me, the word they first uttered was ‘Oh!'”

However, Sushant Singh added, “But you know what! At times, I have got bewildered too. A certain Kabir Khan always sends me messages wishing me on Eid and Holi. I used to think for years that it’s the ’83 director but it turned out to be some other Kabir Khan”.

And take this! Farah Khan Ali said, “Frankly, I thought that the senior Sushant Singh had died last year on June 14 when I first heard the news”.

It’s not over yet! Bollywood’s famous photographer Dabboo Ratnani has found himself to be imagined as Karisma Kapoor and Kareena Kapoor’s father. “People get mixed up between Randhir Kapoor (whose pet name is Dabboo), Daboo Malik and me. Daboo Malik (brother of Anu Malik) is a musician but gets calls from actors to shoot their portfolios,” he chuckled.

Is there a flip side to this? Any advantage? The upcoming web show ‘Country Mafia’ actress Pooja Bisht has so far not got any calls in the name of TV actress Barkha Bisht (who was recently rumoured to have separated from her husband Indraneil Sengupta) but has often been mistaken for her. Pooja shot back, “What advantage? What flip side? It adds to nothing. It’s just messy”. Amen!

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