Shilpa Shetty reveals Raj Kundra convinced her to take up Sukhee after she refused film: ‘I even suggested other actors’

At the trailer launch of Sukhee, Shilpa Shetty said when Vikram and Sonal approached her with Sukhee, she refused to star in it.

“Something had happened because of which I had decided that I won’t be able to do the film. I wasn’t in that state of mind. So I told them that perhaps right now I’m not in that mind space so they should cast someone else. I even suggested two-three names of other actors who could be cast. I won’t name them of course.

“But it was their goodness and confidence, that they were determined that only I would play the part. Vikram called me and said that whenever I was ready, they would take the film on floors. He adjusted everything and waited for eight months.”

Vikram Malhotra said Shilpa Shetty persuaded him and the director that she shouldn’t be doing the film. “Normally when a story is good, actors pursue because they want to do the film, but here it was the reverse despite her liking it,” the producer said.

Shilpa said the person who “convinced” her to take up Sukhee was her husband Raj Kundra, who had read the script and knew of her reluctance to feature in it.

“Raj read the script when I wasn’t home. I had told him that it’s a beautiful film, but I’m not ready for it. When I returned, he told me, ‘Are you crazy?! You have to do this film! He convinced me to take up the film. He forced me to do it and told me there’s a ‘Sukhee’ in all of us. If a man can think that way for a woman-oriented film…,” she added.

Also starring Chaitanya Chaudhary, Kiran Kumar and Kusha Kapila among others, Sukhee marks Shilpa Shetty’s second theatrical release post pandemic. Last year, she featured in the action comedy Nikamma, which was panned and ultimately bombed at the box office. Sukhee is set to release on September 22.