Ranveer Singh opts out of Gully Boys; Zoya Akhtar approaches Varun Dhawan

Filmmaker Zoya Akhtar and Ranveer Singh will not be able to recreate the magic of the family drama Dil Dhadakne Do in her next film as the actor has opted out of Gully Boys, a film based on the life of street rappers in the bylanes of Mumbai. [caption id=“attachment_3131804” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  File photo: Ranveer Singh and Zoya Akhtar
Image courtesy: Reuters[/caption] Akhtar had announced earlier this year that her next will revolve around street rappers but maintained that the casting had not been finalised yet. However, Singh was rumoured to be the lead actor of the film titled Gully Boys. The reason why Akhtar was skeptical in announcing the cast was because of Singh’s hectic schedule. Now, India.com reports that Singh has walked out of the film as he has given his dates to his mentor Aditya Chopra’s production house Yash Raj Films’ romantic drama to be directed by Chak De India-fame Shimit Amin. Chopra had given Singh his break with Maneesh Sharma’s Band Baaja Baarat which shot him to stardom. Singh went on to do four more films with the banner in Sharma’s Ladies Vs Ricky Behl, Ali Abbas Zafar’s Gunday and Shaad Ali’s Kill Dill. The fourth one, Befikre is directed by Chopra himself and is slated to release this 9 December. Thus, it was clear that Singh had to consider Amin’s project on priority. Singh is currently busy shooting for Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Padmavati and will start shooting for filmmaker Rohit Shetty’s next after Amin’s film. Since his dates diary is completely packed, Akhtar has now approached Varun Dhawan to replace Singh in her next. Singh was probably the first choice owing to his rapping history. He has worked with a radio station before entering the film industry and is adept at doing radio jingles. He was even seen rapping in a commercial of one of his brand endorsements. However, Dhawan does not lag behind in that regard. He has sung a rap sequence in the song Saturday Saturday from his film Shashank Khaitan’s Humpty Sharma Ki Dulhania. He also impressed his fans by dancing on multiple rap sequences in Remo D’Souza’s ABCD 2. Dhawan is currently filming the sequel to Humpty Sharma Ki Dulhania titled Badrinath Ki Dulhania. He also has the sequel of his father David Dhawan’s Judwaa and Abhishek Varman’s romantic drama Shiddat in his kitty. Therefore, he is trying to take out dates for Gully Boys as he is keen on signing the film, as per a report by Bollywood Life.com. Meanwhile, Akhtar is busy scripting the film with long-term associate Reema Kagti.