By Subhash K. Jha

Mumbai, Apr 11 (IANS): This has to be the most uncanny coincidence to have happened in Hindi cinema so far.

Just when we have Pakistani cricketer Shoaib Malik being accused of bigamy on the eve of his wedding to Indian tennis ace Sania Mirza, there is Sajid Khan's "Housefull" coming up with a situation that bears an uncanny resemblance to the "Shonia affair".

In the comedy, Akshay Kumar's wedding to Deepika Padukone is rudely interrupted by a woman, played by Jiah Khan, claiming to be his wife.

When questioned about the similarity, Akshay Kumar said: "I never thought of it. Now that you've pointed it out I guess there's a resemblance. Actually I've three women claiming to be my wife in the film."

But the actual sequence where Akshay's wedding to Deepika is interrupted is too close to the happenings in the life of the Shoaib and Sania to be a coincidence.

Director Sajid Khan said: "What can I say, except that this is a case of life imitating art? We do have a sequence where Akshay's wedding is interrupted by a woman claiming to be his wife. Compounding the similarities with the real life situation which are grabbing headlines is the fact that the first wife's claims are not as simple as they seem. But I repeat the similarities are coincidental. I wrote my script two years ago."

Be as it may, the similarity between Shoaib Malik's and Akshay Kumar's respective predicaments seems to be a case of perfect timing.