Hiren Kotwani (DNA; April 15, 2018)

In January, Sonu Sood had announced his plans to make Sarvggun Sampanna, a film based on the kidnapping of men for forced weddings in Bihar. The actor, who forayed into production with Tutak Tutak Tutiya and Kung Fu Yoga, was kicked about the realistic subject. 

However, even before Sonu could finish the casting, it seems like someone else has ‘kidnapped’, or should we say hijacked, the same idea. Trade sources say that Sidharth Malhotra’s Shotgun Shaadi is reportedly based on groom kidnapping. So, we hear that the Dabangg actor has decided to call off his project.

He had discussed his film with Arjun Rampal, with whom he bonded during the shoot of J P Dutta’s Paltan. He wanted to cast his new buddy as a Bihari gangster in the film. Subsequently, Sonu was planning it with Akshaye Khanna, but the latter was busy with The Accidental Prime Minister and flew to London in a tearing hurry telling all his other producers that he would revert at a later date.

“Considering that Akshaye was recently seen as a cop in Mom and Ittefaq, the team thought it would be interesting to see him in such a role,” says a source.

Even as Sonu was putting together his film, came the news of Shotgun Shaadi being made with Sidharth. In the subsequent weeks, the former bagged Rohit Shetty’s Simmba, which stars Ranveer Singh in the title role. “Sonu is currently working on Paltan and Kangana Ranaut’s Manikarnika - The Queen Of Jhansi. Next month, he will begin shooting for Simmba. He also has committed time for the promotions and marketing of these films. He didn’t want to rush and make Sarvggun Sampanna to release it first. So, he decided to let this pass and plan another film with a fresh subject instead,” says our source.

The actor-producer isn’t the only one who has to abort a project because someone else is also making a film on the same subject. A few months ago, Ajay Devgn changed his mind about making a movie on the Battle Of Saragarhi, after Akshay Kumar started Kesari with producer Karan Johar.