Spot Spat: Boston yaa London?

Producer wants to shoot in the US city, director in the UK capital

Abbas Tyrewala's 1-800-LOVE hasn't even taken off yetu00a0 and there's already a bone of contention between the director and its producer Madhu 'Ghajini' Mantena.

While all details for shooting in Boston have been finalised, Abbas Tyrewala has gone and changed his mind. He now wants to relocate the romance to London. The film stars the director's wife Pakhi and John Abraham.

The director says he now sees his lovers in a London location, apparently because the romance unfolds amidst a very Indian population, which Boston with its almost-zero Indian population cannot sustain.

The re-location would cost Mantena an added Rs 2-3 crore and an added embarrassment because the governor of Massachusetts Deval Patrick had invited the unit of the Mantena-Tyrewala film to shoot in Boston.

Now if Mantena buckles under Tyrewala's pressure, he would need to offer explanations to his intended host in Boston.

'I'm trying'

Confirming these developments, Mantena says, "Yes, Abbas has been insisting on the re-location though everything in Boston was finalised.

We had even selected a local crew to avoid union pressures. But now, Abbas wants to shoot in London. I've been fighting the change.

Abbas thinks I'm a difficult producer. I'm trying hard to see his point of view." In all likelihood, Mantena will have to give in if he wants the film to be made.

Adds Abbas, "It's true that earlier I saw my characters coming alive in Boston. Later, the more I thought of them, the more London seemed to be the place where they belonged."