Sonali Joshi Pitale (MID-DAY; January 21, 2015)

If sources are to be believed, Tahir Raj Bhasin was offered a key role in Sanjay Gupta’s, Jazbaa, but before he could sign on the dotted line, the director replaced him. The film, which is being billed as Aishwarya Rai Bachchan’s comeback vehicle, also stars Irrfan, Shabana Azmi and Anupam Kher.

A source says, “Sanjay had been scouting for a young actor to play a pivotal role in the film. He had zeroed in on Tahir, who was widely appreciated for his negative character in Mardaani, and had a word with him. But, things did not work out and he was replaced by Chandan Roy Sanyal.”

Apparently, Tahir was dropped from the project when the filmmaker did not agree to his demand for showing the script to the production house that launched him. Sanjay, however, denies having offered the film to Tahir, saying, “He was considered for the role, but we chose Chandan. It has nothing to do with the production house.”

Tahir’s spokesperson, on the other hand, confirms that the actor was offered the role while denying rumours of any ‘external’ interference. “The production house never goes through any script unless an artiste specifically asks it to. Tahir makes his own decisions. He was offered the film, but it never got to the stage of talks,” the spokesperson adds.