With the teaser of O’Romeo, filmmaker Vishal Bhardwaj gave us a peek into his action thriller’s world that is populated by Shahid Kapoor, Triptii Dimri, Tamannaah Bhatia, Avinash Tiwary, Disha Patani, and Nana Patekar. But an actor was missing from the teaser — Randeep Hooda. A bit of digging revealed that though he was supposed to play the antagonist in the February 13 offering, he backed out of the film days before his scheduled shoot.

According to sources, the actor exited the project due to personal reasons. A source from the production told mid-day, “Randeep had begun preliminary prep for the role. Unfortunately, a personal crisis emerged right before he was to shoot his portions. This was around the time of Jaat’s [2025] release last April; he was navigating important developments in his personal life and Lin’s [Laishram, his wife] health. Understandably, giving time to his personal commitments took precedence.”

It’s heard that Bhardwaj and producer Sajid Nadiadwala were supportive of Hooda’s decision to exit the project, and the parting was amicable.

With O’Romeo running on a tight schedule, the makers moved swiftly to cast another actor. They zeroed in on Tiwary, marking the actor’s first collaboration with Bhardwaj.

The source added, “The production couldn’t afford a major delay. Avinash fit the brief, and was available to step into the role at a short notice.”