Mukesh Khanna’s TV show Shaktimaan was supposed to be adapted into a film. It was announced in 2022, but the movie has not yet started rolling. Khanna had earlier mentioned that Ranveer Singh wanted to play the role of Shaktimaan in the movie, but he refused his casting. Now, in an interview, the veteran actor revealed why, according to him, the Dhurandhar actor can’t portray the character of Shaktimaan.
During an interview with Subhojit Ghosh, while talking about Ranveer, Khanna said, “Maine toh tarif ki hai. Uske jaisa energetic actor nahin hai. Kilvish kar sakta hai woh. Maine, in fact, usko offer kiya tha ke Kilvish kar. He will be a tremendous Kilvish (I’ve praised him. There’s no actor as energetic as him. He can do Kilvish. In fact, I offered him Kilvish’s role. He will be a tremendous Kilvish).”
Khanna Explains His Refusal
Khanna further said that Ranveer can do Dhurandhar, Gully Boy, Khilji (Padmaavat), but he cannot do Shaktimaan. He said, “For that we need image plus face. Jo uska nahi hai.” He further said that Ranveer has a mischievous face, and for Shaktimaan, the actor has to be very positive.
Khanna clarified that he never said that Ranveer is a bad actor. When asked what Ranveer said about playing the role of Kilvish, Khanna did a gesture that he heard it from one ear and took it out of the other, “Yahaan se sunke nikal diya. He was very interested in Shaktimaan. For three hours, he tried to convince me. I was feeling guilty that I was telling him no. But I couldn’t see the face of Shaktimaan in him.”
Khanna further said that he was amazed to see Ranveer, as he has not seen any other man as energetic as him. The veteran actor said, “After Dev Anand saab, I saw this actor who had so much energy.”
He also stated, “Commercially, I am behaving like a stupid person. I stopped a cheque worth crores.”
Well, it will be interesting to see which actor will get the role of Shaktimaan in the movie.