Is Britney Spears really dating dancer Sandip Soparrkar, as her manager ostensibly claims? Did she come to India primarily to meet Sandip? Morphed picture of Britney Spears and Sandip Soparrkar. For original click here |
Was she here at all? DT uncovers contradictions and inconsistencies in the reports, emanating from many ‘sources’ & identities, about Britney’s purported visit to Jodhpur
Four days ago, there was news that Britney Spears had landed in Jodhpur to rehearse for the second video of her single, Womanizer, which dancer Sandip Soparrkar had been signed on to choreograph.
That news came amid buzz that Britney had actually come to see Sandip, with whom she was speculated to be having an affair.
The media, including DT, had carried those stories, and Sandip’s official denials, as also earlier news about Sandip’s performance at Madonna’s 50th birthday bash in England, and his attending a counselling session for her before her marriage to Guy Ritchie broke up. However, what DT didn’t publish were the most recent reports, that got us curious, sent ostensibly by Britney’s manager, Larry Rudolph, saying that Britney got her room in her Jodhpur hotel, Umaid Bhawan, shifted to one that had an interconnecting door to Sandip’s, and that after a workout, they both “locked themselves up” for an hour. The insinuation in this and other reports was clearly that Britney and Sandip were having an affair. A photo, supposedly of Sandip and Britney at Jodhpur, sent to us, again by ‘Larry’, is the one you see above – a clearly morphed picture with Sandip’s face tacked on to a picture of someone standing with Britney. The original, which is actually an old picture of Britney and Neil Patrick Harrison, is next to it.
All of this has been circulated by ‘Larry’ from Sandip’s email ID, and the same picture was mailed to our sister publication in Jaipur, this time by Sandip’s manager, and not by ‘Larry’ – but again from Sandip’s email ID. DT spoke to Sandip, his partner Jessy Randhawa, the hotel that Britney was supposed to be staying at in Jodhpur (she’s supposed to have left in the morning on December 29), and the CISF, that normally would provide some security cover to Britney if an international celebrity of her standing were landing at an Indian airport, and found more than a few glaring inconsistencies. You decide...
‘Maybe Britney wants a push in India?’ When first asked if Britney was in India, Jessy said, “You’ll have to ask Britney or Sandip. I wasn’t in Jodhpur.” But later, when contacted again, she said, “Yes, she was. For two days.” When told that there is not a single picture of hers in India, Jessy replied, “She came for two days, she rehearsed and she left. Sandip and I had a shoot this afternoon (on December 29, in Mumbai) which got cancelled, but he was here at 8 am. I’ve been in touch with Sandip’s manager, and I know what’s going on.” What about Britney’s quotes saying she’s spending New Year’s Eve with Sandip? “Sandip is here in Mumbai, how can he be spending New Year’s Eve with her?” Jessy asked.
She said that the media has often circulated stories about Sandip that aren’t true, and that it’s getting out of hand now. The last big news, of them performing at Madonna’s birthday bash – is that also inaccurate? “Yes, it is inaccurate. First, we played along thinking, whatever, but then it became too much – Julia Roberts commenting on my beauty and etc, and now, the papers say that Britney met Sandip at Madonna’s birthday party. How can that be? I never met Julia. We were very much in town (Mumbai),” she replied. “Now, it’s being said that Sandip laughed about it (the affair with Britney) and making it out like that Sandip’s dating Britney, which is not true... I’ve been in touch with Sandip throughout his two-day stay in Jodhpur, and he said there are things appearing in the media and do not believe it.” How come neither she nor Sandip ever spoke up about these reports earlier, if they were false? “See for us, it’s just publicity, just hype. Write it. But it’s getting it out of hand now,” she replied. “Sandip has denied that there’s any love angle and she’s come here only for work... I don’t know what’s going on, Sandip says he does not know what’s going on, and we’re not clear who’s doing this.” But why would someone cook up complimentary stories about them, we asked her. “All these women who’re coming here, they want some media attention, and they want something to be talked about after they leave. It’s good for their work also,” she replied. Does Britney need a Soparrkar link-up to stay in the news? “No... but maybe she wants a little more push in India?” she said uncertainly. “I don’t think it’s Sandip who’s actually doing this. This is being done by the same people who spread the London story... Maybe Madonna is too impressed with him...” So Madonna fed a positive story about Sandip Soparrkar, and Britney Spears fed another? “He must have just played along with the story, because it came internationally...” she said. “People who are crazy about being in the media, they can lie to you sometimes. But he doesn’t have the power, if you’re blaming him... the whole country’s writing about him, isn’t it?”
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Larry wanted to fuel rumours’ Sandip strenuously denies having anything romantic to do with Britney. But then, who’s spreading these stories and sending fabricated pictures? “Larry Rudolph – he is Britney’s manager, and he had come with her when she travelled here for the weekend, and he said he had issues with his laptop and his internet connection was not working very well, so if he could mail it from my ID, so I said he could. And when he was working on my comp, I wasn’t there, so I don’t know what he sent,” said Sandip. How can he disown accountability for something sent from his laptop, his ID, and not even see what was being sent? “He being the spokesperson and manager for her, I don’t know what he sent. He’s kind of rude, so I didn’t converse much with him.” Sandip knew nothing of it at all? “Larry had said he wanted to fuel certain things about Britney and get promotion for the video which will soon be released in Asia and Australia. So I told him if you want to use something to fuel, it’s okay, it’s fine with me, not a problem, but if it’s going to get a little too much, I don’t want my life to get affected with it, you know,” replied Sandip. When we mentioned the doctored picture, he said, “He’s not even shown me what pictures he has.” What about them “locking themselves up” for an hour, like ‘Larry’ is suggesting? “We did, but for rehearsal,” Sandip replied.
Did he go to Madonna’s birthday bash? “Yes, but we are not supposed to talk about it in public.” He and Jessy both went? “Yes, we both danced there together.”
What would he say if Jessy were to include the England visit in the list of ‘fake’ things that the media’s writing? “That she’s saying because we’re not supposed to talk about it.” If a channel asks you tomorrow on live TV, are you dating Britney, will you say you are? “No, I will say I’m dating Jessy... I have laughed (when asked about it earlier) because it’s really funny, and I have said I’m meeting her for work. Larry, being her spokesperson, has maybe added his two bits to it.”
Alright, then, when did Britney come to India, and when did she leave? “She came late Friday night... Saturday morning. She left this morning (on December 29) at about 2-2.30 am.” Where were they staying? “Umaid Bhawan.” She came by chartered flight? “Yes.” Directly to and from Jodhpur? “I assume so, I don’t know, I didn’t ask questions about that,” is what Sandip had to say.
