The most embarrassing encounter for all the wrong reasons, at Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai, between Quaid-e-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah's great grandson, Ness (Nez) Nusli Wadia and 37-year-old, on the shelf, has been Bollywood Rajput actress Preity Zinta, on June 14, 2014 at the culmination of Indian Premier League T-20, Tournament, when Ness called Preity a moll.
Happenings, testify, recall, Shakespeare's time tested quote "Hell hath no fury, like a woman scorned" from his play A Midsummer Night's Dream. In the adage, the bard defines the characteristics of a female that have remained unchanged, unhinged, through the passage of centuries. At the top of her voice, once glamorous Preity, retaliated, screamed, roughly, pushed aside, her lover Corporate Magnate Ness (Nez) Nusli Wadia, heir of the Bombay Dyeing Dynasty, for six years (2007-13) Preity indicted, charged him with molestation and subsequently filed an FIR in the Marine Drive Police Station. Ness contends, rebuts, to cool Preity's wrath against him, he only casually touched her, for they had been living as husband and wife at the Wadia's Car Michael Road, mansion, bereft of being formally married because of resistance from his immediate family, particularly his mother Maureen. To appease and ensure Preity of his sincere commitment, intent and plans that he would formalise the arrangement by exchanging wedding vows with her, no sooner he prevailed upon the resistance of his mother, Ness had presented Preity a three carat diamond ring, that he had inherited from the Estate of his great grandmother Ruttie Jinnah, wife of the Founder of Pakistan. In her affidavit in the Marine Drive, Police Station, Preity accused her ex-lover of attempting to snatch, steal, by attempting to pull the ring from her fingers.
Leading Socialite of Bombay, Maureen Nusli Wadia and her spouse Nusli Wadia, the aristocratic old Wadia family, repute was at stake. Wadias had been living in Mumbai for five generations, descendants of the Baron of the British era, Sir Nez Wadia. Parents of Ness did not approve of their second son, Ness' desires to wed, a Bollywood actress of a questionable background, repute, who had featured in semi-nude calendars of King Fisher. Categorically, they told Ness that they could not countenance Preity, a film actress as their daughter-in-law in Bombay. If he was so determined, Ness broadminded parents suggested he should migrate to Switzerland, like his paternal grandfather, Neville, who lived with his French nurse, Florence de Surmant, in the villa Casa Morcote, overlooking Lac Como, Morcote, Switzerland. Neville Wadia could not marry Florence de Surmant for some reasons. And in a compromise, he moved from India to Switzerland with his mistress Florence. In the formative days of her film career, Preity Zinta had appeared in see through, semi-nude, bikini swimming costumes, displaying the curvaceous valley of dolls that is specialty of the notorious King Fisher calendars. She admitted in interviews, more than anything else, by displaying, parading her sexy and voluptuous figure, undergoing plastic surgery, she had crashed, and made her debut, entry into Bollywood's silver screen. Preity's presence with Ness at the Wadia's mansion, on Car Michael Road, shamed the proud Wadias and their immediate business connections in Bombay Dyeing. Preity had turned them all the more nervous, uneasy, against her person, by making no bones, brazenly stating in the TV talk shows of her acknowledged and known contacts with underworld don of Bombay, Ravi Pujari. The latter provided the finance for Preity's production from Sydney and Dubai, for Preity's maiden production, "Love (Ishk) in Paris." Preity starred and produced the film but it miserably, bombed, flopped on the cinema box offices in India, the UK and US, on the very first day, when reviews came in.
LOVE (ISHK) IN PARIS
Celebrated Khans of Bollywood, namely Shahrukh Khan, Amir Khan, Saif Ali Khan, Arbaz Khan, Sohail Khan, Imran Khan, Fardeen Khan, etc were not willing, just unprepared to take the star billing in "Love in Paris" with a fading, Preity Zinta, once established for her attraction, box office successes, notably in the films "Veer Zara", "Kal ho na ho" "Kabhi al Wida na Kehna."
For one reason or another, the Khans of Bollywood, kept an arms length, were prejudiced, refused to take calls from Preity Zinta, rendered excuses in spite of offers of lucrative advances, they were overbooked and could not give dates, to share the billing with her film "Love (Ishk) in Paris" when it was made certain that the venture "Love (Ishk) in Paris" had the backing of the infamous don Ravi Pujari and support of another big don Preity Zinta's silent partners. Time was fast running out for Preity. Ness obviously was not of much help. His father Nusli Wadia was apprehensive of his life in daughter-in-law Preity's presence at Wadias' sprawling Mansion in Car Michael Road and Preity Zinta's inadvertent admission, involvement, links with the don Ravi Pujari. Nusli Neville Wadia was already a victim of an attempted kidnap that had been most timely thwarted by his Muslim bodyguards, who were shot at by hoods. Nusli Neville Wadia's incident is on the Mahrashtra Police Files.
Reluctantly, at the last moment, Preity had to reconcile with an untested for indigenous sub-continent film audiences, unknown stage actor of Paris, from an expatriate Indian family living in France. This guy conversed in French, could not speak a word of Hindi and despite all the coaching efforts of Preity in Paris, he failed to correct the dialogue in Hindi nuances and forego his French accent for "Love in Paris." Predictably, "Love (Ishk) in Paris" bereft of any of the Khans in title role and a total new comer, failed in the Box Office. To meet the advances, taken at 33% interest of the distributors, script writers, studio charges, Preity has now to fork, pay -back, she put her apartment in posh Marine Drive for sale.
Meanwhile, Ness bowed, caved, submitted to pressures from his mother who for all purposes dominates the Wadia family and the related Bombay Dyeing Enterprises as well as the purse strings of her playboy son, Ness. Later, after a perfunctory argument on quarrel, with his fiancé Preity, he abruptly closed on her the doors of the Wadias' mansion in Car Michael Hill, ending the six-year-old (2007-2013) romance and calling it a day. There was a sigh of relief from the father, Nusli, mother Maureen and the elder brother Jay. The nick name of Jay was given to Jinnah by his wife Ruttie and endowed upon his eldest great grandson Jay.
NARGIS FAKHRI /
Saturday, June 14, 2014, Ness, now linked with our own Lahore-born, Kinnaird College student, Nargis Fakri, requested Preity, to return the three carat diamond ring that had come to the Wadias from their great grand mother, Ruttie Jinnah. Preity pointedly refused. She was wearing the sparkling ring at the Premier League match and Preity though exactly not next, was sitting a row away from her erstwhile lover, in the VVIP section of the Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai. Ness noticed, saw the ring, on Preity's manicured, left hand finger. Ness remained tense, uneasy through the Premier League tournament, reached to Preity, while the match was in progress and suggested a figure in dollars for the return of the ornament. Preity responded that offer of Ness was peanuts, for the priceless ornament. The heated argument and scuffle followed, whether or not Ness slapped or pushed Preity but he did roughly pull her left hand on which Preity had worn the ring. The situation is much blurred, hitherto not precisely known, to be ascertained and determined by the Mumbai Police and the CCTV footages in the possession of the management of Wankhede Stadium.
Judicial Magistrates of the Elphinstone Courts in Bombay have now to scrutinize, must see the actual film and cross-examine the witnesses present, one of whom is Pakistan's Nargis Fakhri who was there with Ness Wadia. Nargis Fakhri was born of a Czech mother, Maria and father Mohammed Arif Fakhri, in the Ganga Ram Hospital of Lahore, on October 20, 1979. Maria, then a student in Czechoslovakia fled from Prague, to escape the harsh dictums of Dubcek's regime imposed upon the Czechs by the Soviet Union on May 5, 1945 when the Russian army occupied Prague, two days before the end of the Second World War.
Maria, a refugee from Prague lived in the Czech community of neighbouring city of Basel, Switzerland. She left behind the despised and much hated Communist in Czechoslovakia. Mohammed Arif Fakhri was a Pakistan industrialist from Lahore, scion of the Shiite Fakhri family of Punjab. Maria and Mohammed met at a discothèque in Basel. They came to Lahore, where they were married according to Muslim rites, with the blessings of the Fakhri clan. Daughter Nargis was delivered by Maria in Lahore on October 20, 1979. She and her younger sister Aliya, schooled at Kinnaird College. Uncertain situation in Pakistan, Sunni-Shia riots during the era of General Mohamed Zia-ul-Haq, naturally Fakhri's family wanted to have one foot in the United States.
Mohammed migrated with Maria to New York with their cute, adolescent daughters Nargis and Aliya in early nineties. Mohammed Fakhri set up a textile sales business, outlet of his family industries productions in New York. Fakhris, Mohammed Arif and Maria, and their daughters Nargis and Aliya acquired the prized Green Card and the American passport. Nargis Fakhri worked as a professional model in the Top Model Group of New York. Scouts of King Fisher Calendar from Bombay selected her for their publication. Nargis Fakhri, given her photogenic, Lahore girls qualifications and South Asian heritage, was picked up by India's foremost award-winning director, Imtiaz Ali, for his film "Rock Star." He was in quest for a Muslim Kashmiri girl to play the leading female opposite Ranbir Kapoor. Rock Star's heroine had to have a background of a Muslim culture, and attributes of the runaway St. Stephen College, Delhi coed for his landmark movie "Rock Star." Movie features a qawali by Ranbir Kapoor at the mausoleum of the Sufi saint Nizamuddin Aulia, to define Muslim characteristics, identity for the sub-continent, the Middle East and international audiences of the film "Rock Star"
Rumored, Nargis Fakhri with her Muslim antecedents is acceptable to mother Maureen and father Nusli, than the suggested much touted Hindu Preity Zinta. Be that it may Ness Nusli Wadia's maternal great-grand father, Quaid-e-Azam, Mahomed Ali Jinnah was indeed the greatest Muslim leader of the twentieth Century.
HINDU MYTHOLOGY
My father Haji Bhai Esmail Dossa was born, in the then Mumbai on August 1, 1906. He lived in India until the Partition of August 14, 1947. Papa's roots were in that city. He had many a close Hindu friends in his business and social circles. Papa was wont to tell me a Hindu woman never, very seldom leaves her marriage partner. Papa described when a lissome Hindu girl got married, tradition demanded that she part from her parent's home, original family and becomes an obedient bahu, a component, element of her husband and in-laws family. Union of Hindu with a fellow Hindu or even a Muslim, as between Ghory, a Hindu and Shahrukh Khan, a Sunni Muslim, is for keeps, never a divorce, in spite of the indiscretions of her husband, and differences with her in-laws. The line governing and guiding Hindu females is the mythology of seven autar, or janams or seven re-birth. Hindu woman believes in reincarnation. She will be reunited with the same man and same person. Human bondage in marriage of a Hindu man and woman, in their lives is for seven generations to come.
Preity Zinta is a Hindu of Rajput descent. She was at the height of her career when she got involved with Jinnah's great grandson Ness Wadia. Second nature of a playboy, Ness wanted to be seen with Preity for her status. He towed around with Preity in Filmfare Awards and commemorative functions of Mumbai and Delhi, enjoying the celebrity status. Apparently, Ness Wadia showed her the door, dodged bullets when Preity Zinta career failed with the all time, major flop "Love (Iskh) in Paris." Crores of Rupees, hopelessly in debts, had prompted Preity Zinta, Producer of "Love (Iskh) in Paris" to put her Marine Drive Property on sale as well as her Premier League Franchise, in which she and Ness Wadia, are still partner, stakeholders, in the IPL Team-Kings XI.
Nez got to know Preity when he lived with her at the Wadias' family Car Michael Road Mansion. Ness got to know Preity best when he abruptly decided to separate from her, and sought back his great grandmother, Ruttie Jinnah's three carat, diamond ring at the Wankhede Stadium on Saturday, June 14, 2014. Diamonds in possession of aristocrat Parsi/Christian families of Mumbai qualify for their sterling quality.
Ness should have demonstrated better mettle than publicly ill treating, Preity Zinta. Ness avidly pursued her, relentlessly for six years, when she was at the height of her fame. Preity and Ness lived under the same roof and always found an excuse, against legalising it in a legal marriage. He took her down the garden path and availed, used Preity for his egoistic end and purposes. Ness callously dropped Preity like a hot potato, when the tide turned against her and career flopped with the film "Love (Iskh) in Paris. Ness packed her things out from the Wadia Mansion and forwarded the bags to Preity's residence in Marine Drive accusing her of being a bad, indecent woman, when she was in financial straits.
To say the least, this was most unbecoming of Jinnah's great grandson Ness. He should have exemplified better stuff in presentation. Why did he refrain from using such cheap, terrible language of Preity being lewd, a slut and what not, when they lived at the up-market, Wadia Mansion, on Car Michael Road for six years? Why the sudden wake-up call that prompted Ness to make him overnight, change, reverse, his opinion, to describe Preity as a slut, a bad woman. He ought to have exercised, better character, element, judgement, than the outlandishly rude behaviour towards Preity Zinta.
Ness does not have an iota of the makings of his great grand father, Quaid-e-Azam Mohammed Ali Jinnah. In Pakistan, there is no sympathy for Ness Wadia and his crude behaviour at Wankhede Stadium. And in the ways of Jinnah's family tradition Maureen Wadia, ought not to have looked down, been arrogant with Preity. Wadias should have treated Preity like a daughter, overlooked her shortcomings. Unlike Maureen's son Ness, Preity Zinta had to make it on her own. She was not born with a silver spoon. She had no godfather, to back her up and with sheer grit, Preity had to make it on her own, to the top of pile in the Film World. Preity has blamed her former lover Ness with molestation and hamstringing with attempting to snatch the diamond ring he had gifted to her that has left a blood clot, bruise on her left arm. If indictment is proved in the Elphinstone Court of Mumbai, provocation by Ness Wadia would invite the mischief of Criminal Procedure, Section 56 that entails two years of imprisonment. For sure, this predicament would not go well over here, because Ness is the grandson of Founder of Pakistan.