The real reason Sushant Singh Rajput dropped out of Romeo Akbar Walter, leaving director ‘shocked’

Did you know that before John Abraham, Sushant Singh Rajput was supposed to star in Romeo Akbar Walter, with pre-production in full swing and promo posters already designed?

The list of actor Sushant Singh Rajput’s unrealised projects is quite long. The actor came close to starring in several films, such as Fitoor and Half Girlfriend, which he was forced to drop out of, for various reasons. You can also add the John Abraham-starrer Romeo Akbar Walter to that list.

Sushant Singh Rajput on the Romeo Akbar Walter poster (R), and John Abraham (L).

The period thriller was set up with Sushant in the lead role of a spy, and posters had even been designed with the actor front-and-centre. But because of scheduling conflicts, Sushant was forced to remove himself from the film, leaving producer Bunty Walia and director Robbie Grewal ‘shocked’ and scrambling to find a replacement.

“Unfortunately, I will not be part of Romeo Akbar Walter due to changes in my prior commitments. I wanted to be part of the project because I love the story, and believe it must be told, but, that will not happen,” Sushant had said in his statement to multiple media outlets.

Producer Ajay Kapoor told DNA, “Nothing went wrong except that the dates Sushant had given us were clashing with another film so we decided to part ways amicably. Obviously one feels bad as we had finished most of the prep and were ready to roll. But everything is sorted now, Sushant is like a brother.”

Meanwhile, a source told Mid-Day, “The script (of RAW) is powerful, and could have been be a turning point in Sushant’s career. He requested Ajay to give him time to sort out the schedule conflict. Sushant wanted to shoot for his films over 15-day schedules, but, Ajay felt it would affect the continuity. He wanted two 30-day schedules to complete Romeo, but that wasn’t possible for the actor.”

But producer Bunty Walia didn’t seem to have taken Sushant’s departure in his stride. “We had signed Sushant in February and had his dates too. His sudden exit came as a shock to us, in particular to Robbie, given that he had given his nod right away,” Bunty had said to Mumbai Mirror.

The role eventually went to John. The film also featured Mouni Roy, Jackie Shroff and Sikandar Kher. Romeo Akbar Walter did moderate business at the box office, and made a little over ₹50 crore.

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