Is Mukesh Khanna’s Ranveer Singh Shaktimaan rejection a publicity stunt? Co-star reacts

Shaktimaan was truly every child’s favourite superhero, back in the late 1990s and early 2000s, with Mukesh Khanna earning immense popularity for playing the iconic character on television. When a film adaptation was announced in 2022, fans were eager to know who would take on the role. After Ranveer Singh’s name surfaced, Mukesh openly opposed the idea and even claimed that the actor had once spent three hours trying to convince him that he was the right choice. Now, Lalit Parimoo, who was also part of the original show, has suggested that Mukesh’s comments may have been made for publicity.

During a recent podcast with Siddharth Kannan, Lalit was asked about Mukesh saying Ranveer tried to convince him for three hours to let him play Shaktimaan, and still he turned him down. He said, “I don’t want to say anything against Mukesh ji. It’s upto him what he has to do. Aaj ka zamana publicity ka zamana hai aur log karte hain publicity gimmicks filmon ke liye, tv show pe karte hain. Jaan booj ke news banane ke liye kuch karna padta hai. I think he’s playing on those lines (Today’s world is driven by publicity, and people often resort to publicity gimmicks for films and television shows. Sometimes, they deliberately do things to generate news and attract attention. I think he’s operating along those lines).”

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The actor further added that no one knows the real truth and only time can tell. He also praised Ranveer Singh’s performance in Aditya Dhar’s Dhurandhar. “I don’t think Shaktimaan film would have the same magic as the TV show. There’s so much material that has already gone into those 350 episodes. But we don’t know about the audience’s preference. If today’s generation sees a superhero movie, they will expect only an international standard. Below that, they won’t like it. If we don’t make it on a technologically high level, it won’t have the same impact,” Lalit shared.

What Mukesh Khanna said about Ranveer Singh

In an earlier interview with Bollywood Thikana, Mukesh Khanna claimed that Ranveer Singh had visited his office and tried to convince him that he could play Shaktimaan. “That poor guy (Ranveer Singh) was sitting in front of me for three hours. But it doesn’t reflect on his face, what it needs to play Shaktimaan. He looks fickle, as if he will con somebody. But he is a terrific actor,” he said.

In 2022, Sony Pictures announced Shaktimaan The Film, revealing that it will be a trilogy. But, no update on the cast has been shared by the makers yet.