Amitabh plays real life genie to Sujoy Ghosh's 'Aladdin'

Though Ramesh and Rohan Sippy have backed out of a commitment to produce Sujoy Ghosh's lavish spectacle "Aladdin", in which Amitabh Bachchan plays the genie, the director is unflustered as the Big B has promised him his support.

"I've nothing to fear as long as god is on my side. And by god I mean Mr. Bachchan. He's genuinely proved to be a genie in my career. He's with me through this project, and so is the rest of my cast and crew," Ghosh, who made the successful musical comedy "Jhankaar Beats", told IANS.

"If you've the support of those who matter, it hardly matters if certain setbacks occur. Life isn't always fair. So what?"

Big B, known to be very close friends with the Sippys, not just through his own association with Ramesh in "Sholay" and other films, but also through Abhishek's friendship with Rohan, has decided not to let his personal relations colour his professional judgement.

"Sujoy is young, ambitious and totally mad. He has dreams," said Amitabh.

Ghosh has decided to produce "Aladdin" himself.

"Why not? I've the confidence. And I've the team behind me. So, yes, I'm producing 'Aladdin' on my own."

As for the Sippys, they remain tight-lipped. After some prompting Rohan said: "Since we're in the process of redefining our arrangements with Sujoy it wouldn't be appropriate to comment at this time."

But the larger picture seems slightly unprofessional. It appears that the Sippys pulled the plug on Ghosh's spectacle to pump up the Nikhil Advani-directed Akshay Kumar action film that they're producing.