Elli Avram, who was replaced in Housefull 3, says she had no idea Riteish Deshmukh had reservations about being paired with her
Upala KBR (DNA; August 27, 2015)

Housefull 3 has gone through its merry-go-round in casting as far as the actresses are concerned. While the male lead was locked with Akshay Kumar, Abhishek Bachchan and Riteish Deshmukh, Esha Gupta who was approached for the film earlier, was replaced by Nargis Fakhri. And Elli Avram who was approached to play the romantic lead opposite been Riteish Deshmukh was replaced by Lisa Haydon.

A source says, “Producer Sajid Nadiadwala and directors Sajid-Farhad were keen to cast Elli in the film. Almost everything from money to the dates was finalised, but Riteish had his reservations.

Says an insider, “He felt he deserved a bigger heroine to be paired with him. He requested his producer and director and that’s how Lisa was cast.”

When quizzed about it, Elli admits. “To my knowledge I am not doing the film. I met Sajid (Nadiadwala) for Housefull 3 where he briefed me about the project. I even met Sajid and Farhad who seemed keen to cast me, but I don’t know what happened after that as they didn’t get back to me. I don’t know if Riteish expressed his reservations, maybe he did. But it was certainly disappointing that it didn’t work out.”

Elli adds defiantly, “It’s fine! I am getting lots of offers after the trailer of my film Kis Kisko Pyaar Karoon with Kapil Sharma. I don’t want to rush things now. I am in a very excited and happy space.”