Daily News Magazine from India & around the world.

RISING Bollywood actress Vaishali Desai has opted out of upcoming film Shunya. She reportedly didn’t want to work with Shiney Ahuja, who has been signed to play the lead role in the film.

Vaishali is the second actress to refuse shooting with Shiney, ever since the tainted actor has been out on bail after allegedly raping his domestic help.

Earlier, Soha Ali Khan refused to wrap up the final scenes of Ek Accident. The makers had to shoot Soha’s portions in Mumbai while Shiney’s sequences for the same scenes were canned in Delhi. When contacted, Vaishali, who made her debut in last year’s dud Kal Kisne Dekha, sounded dejected. “I don’t wish to comment. I opted out of the film because of very personal reasons and I don’t want to divulge the details,” she said.

Although Vaishali, grandniece of late filmmaker Manmohan Desai, is yet to establish herself in the industry, her reported decision speaks a lot about Shiney’s standing in the industry right now.

Shiney was accused of raping his housemaid almost a year ago. He spent several months in jail before being released on bail. Shunya is being produced by Puja Bedi, niece of producer Bobby Bedi.

Reports suggest that since Vaishali comes from a conservative background, she doesn’t want to work with Shiney, given his ill- repute.

It’s believed that she made it clear to the makers of Shunya that she won’t be comfortable working with Shiney and signing the film could be a bad move for her career.

Reports are rife that Vaishali was initially ready to do the film when the makers were considering Adhayayan Suman as its hero. The makers on their part apparently opted for Shiney because they wanted a more mature and better known actor.

Shiney is yet to be seen in a film ever since he hit the headlines for allegedly raping his domestic help.

Jahnu Barua’s Harr Pall , co- starring Preity Zinta, has been stuck for a long time now.

In fact, Preity and the director have been completely clueless about the film’s release. Some time ago, Preity had stated that she has no idea what was happening to that film. “ I’ve finished work on it but have no time to follow up on its release,” she said.

Barua said even the film’s dubbing is over. “ But the producers are hesitant to release my film. After what happened with Shiney, they are cautious,” he had said.

Last year, it was reported that Sudhir Mishra had cast Shiney in his new film, Hitman . Nothing much has been heard on that front since then.

On Ek Accident , Soha has said: “ My film with Shiney is complete. They got him to work in Delhi and they shot my bits in Mumbai. It was slightly awkward because we couldn’t work together,” Soha has said.

Shiney won several awards for his debut film, Sudhir Mishra’s Hazaaron Khwaishein Aisi and is also famous for his roles in films such as Gangster , Woh Lamhe , Life In A Metro and Bhool Bhulaiyya .