Sonup Sahadevan (MID-DAY; June 3, 2015)

Anupam Kher who was all set to reunite with director Sanjay Gupta after a gap of two decades in Jazbaa is now no longer a part of the movie.

While Anupam had earlier expressed his happiness at being a part of Aishwarya Rai Bachchan’s comeback vehicle and was also part of a script reading session with the rest of the star cast, it now emerges that he was never signed on for the project in the first place.

Confirming the news, co-producer Nitin Keni says, “ We didn’t come to a point where we signed Anupam. We were talking to him, but nothing materialised. There were issues with his dates as well.”

Ruing the missed opportunity of working with Anupam, director Sanjay Gupta says, “There were a lot of shuffling of dates from our end. Mr Kher has a busy schedule as far as films are concerned and also keeps travelling for his plays. He couldn’t adjust the dates. So we had to lose the opportunity of working with him.” Jackie Shroff who has now stepped in Anupam Kher’s shoes will be seen playing father to Siddhanth Kapoor in the movie. Kher couldn’t be reached for a comment.