Bollywood films that were originally offered to Sushant Singh Rajput

Sushant Singh Rajput’s death by suicide has stirred up a storm in the otherwise glitzy and glamorous world of Bollywood. Since his untimely demise on June 14, actors and directors closest to him have spoken up about how SSR was ‘let down’ on several instances in his career. While some blamed the nexus, others alleged nepotism as the reason why the actor lost out on film projects. We have drawn up a list of films that were originally offered to Sushant over the years but didn’t come to be due to various reasons. Take a look...

Photo: Instagram

Over the past month since the actor’s passing, it was even revealed that Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s hugely successful ‘Goliyon Ki Raasleela - Ram Leela’ was initially offered to Sushant Singh Rajput before it went to Ranveer Singh. According to reports doing the rounds, the director was keen to work with Rajput, and offered him the lead role in the film but owing to date issues, and an alleged contract with YRF studios, the actor had to turn down the role which eventually went to Ranveer Singh. Reports state that Bhansali even offered him ‘Bajirao Mastani’ and ‘Padmaavat’, both of which he couldn’t commit to, sighting date issues.

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Did you know that ‘Half Girlfriend’ was among the many films Sushant Sing Rajput was supposed to be a part of? Over the past days, fans had been circulating Chetan Bhagat’s tweet from 2015 which announced Sushant as the lead actor for the film adaptation of the author’s book. However, the film later went on to star Arjun Kapoor. While fans have been crying foul and claiming nepotism as the reason for the replacement, Sushant had actually set the record straight saying that he had signed a Dinesh Vijan film long before Half Girlfriend owing to some confusion, he was told both films could be shot simultaneously. However as both films had to be shot in a particular month, he opted out of the romantic drama as he has committed to Vijan first.

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Another project that Sushant Singh Rajput “shocked” makers when he opted out of the project was the thriller ‘Romeo Akbar Walter’. Although now added in John Abraham’s list of successful films, the movie was originally set to feature Sushant in the lead with the makers launching special posters to make the announcement. But the actor later bowed out of the film sighting scheduling conflicts, leaving the producers scrambling for a replacement. Reports claimed that the actor’s calendar was working with a full calendar and asked for his schedule to be divided into 15-day schedules contrary to the two 30-day schedules that were required to complete the shoot.

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Sushant Singh Rajput, who made his Bollywood debut in 2013 with Abhishek Kapoor's ‘Kai Po Che’, made headlines when it was revealed that he would no longer be a part of the director's romantic-drama ‘Fitoor’. According to reports, the actor wanted to be a part of “mentor” Abhishek’s film but had to step down as the changes in the shooting schedule clashed with his dates committed to director Shekar Kapur's 'Paani' - that ultimately got shelved. SSR’s spokesperson confirmed in a statement, "Sushant will not be doing 'Fitoor'. The film, for which he had allotted dates this year and kept himself free, has shifted from its original October 2013 schedule to March 2014 and now to July 2014. It now clashes with his dates allotted for 'Paani' due to which he had to let it go. He hopes to collaborate with Abhishek on some project in the future.”

While ‘Fitoor’ went on to feature Katrina Kaif and Aditya Roy Kapur in lead roles, Sushant reunited with the director in ‘Kedarnath’.

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We don’t need any throwback tweets or stories to refresh our memory about the space film that is still awaiting its take off. ‘Saare Jahan Se Accha’ has long been in the news for the many celebs approached for the film, including Sushant Singh Rajput, besides Shah Rukh Khan and even Aamir Khan. SSR who was previously set to star in a space film 'Chanda Mama Door Ke' and even went for a month-long training at NASA to gear up for his role as an astronaut, was reportedly one of the people being considered for the role of Astronaut Rakesh Sharma, the first Indian to travel to space. Latest reports indicated that Vicky Kaushal is now set to star in the project. However, no official announcement on the project has still been made. Interestingly, Sushant had revealed that he was working on his own space film.

Photo: Instagram