Arjun Kapoor left Kabir Singh to avoid 'ego tussle' with director

Arjun Kapoor sheds light on why he had to sidestep from a film like Kabir Singh though he was producer's first choice for the film. Read on to find out the lesser-known story behind Kabir Singh casting.

Mumbai: Arjun Kapoor said though he was keen on doing Kabir Singh, director Sandeep Reddy Vanga had already committed to Shahid Kapoor for this film.

There have been reports about Arjun being offered Kabir Singh and the actor said when the movie's Hindi remake rights were acquired by the makers -- Murad Khetani and Ashwin Varde -- they wanted to cast him in the film.

"It did not reach that stage where I could choose or not. When the rights were being acquired by Ashwin and Murad, who made 'Mubarakan', they acquired keeping me in mind. Sandeep Vanga, the director had met Shahid and he had seen the film before and they decided to do the film together.

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"The film needed Sandeep Vanga. There is a madness to that film, there is an inherent energy. It is a simple story but there was madness to the treatment. He (Sandeep) had already committed and he wanted to stick by his words and I respect that. I did not want my producers sitting around with the rights of the film and not making it out of me being in an ego tussle with anybody," Arjun said at a film festival.

The actor said he was keen on doing the film but it was a better and an obvious choice to go with the director's vision and said that "films chose actors and directors."

"It doesn't mean I left it or I did not choose it. It is complicated. There are human emotions and decisions and lot of things come into the picture. The director wanted somebody else because he and commited to someone it was not that he said, you can't do it. My impulse stays right as I selected the right material but then you move on in life," he added.

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The actor believes Shahid was the perfect choice for the film and he is happy with the commercial success of the project. "Shahid is a fantastic choice and he has done it fantastically. He is a fantastic actor. The film has fine Rs 275 crore," said Arjun on Shahid doing Kabir Singh.

The 34-year-old actor will next be seen in Dibakar Banerjee's Sandeep and Pinky Farar and Ashutosh Gowarikar-directed Panipat.