Casting for Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra’s Delhi 6 is fast turning into a game of musical chairs. First, Abhishek Bachchan was rumoured to be playing the lead, then Hrithik Roshan. Now it will be Akshay Kumar instead.
However, Siddharth Kapoor, marketing head of UTV and co-producer with Mehra, refused to give details, saying it was too early to comment. “Wait for the official announcement,” was his cryptic reply.
Why was Hrithik Roshan replaced? Seems it’s because of the usual date problems. Sources say Mehra plans to start the project once he returns from the Oscars where he is promoting Rang De Basanti, India’s entry in the Best Foreign Film category.
Roshan is busy shooting Ashutosh Gowariker’s Jodhaa Akbar. Plus, he has another film in hand. Hrithik had to choose between Zoya Akhtar’s Kismat Talkies and Rakeysh Mehra’s Delhi 6. And he decided to go for Zoya’s debut film since he had committed his dates to this project.
Incidentally, Abhishek Bachchan too was committed for another project, so he couldn’t allot dates to Mehra, which made him opt for Roshan.
Akshay Kumar, currently in Sydney, was not available for comment. Rakeysh Mehra too refused comment.