Hrithik Roshan was in for a surprise when he came to know that he wasn’t doing Aditya Chopra’s Thugs of Hindostan. The actor apparently wasn’t formally informed about his ouster from the project or about Aamir being roped in as his replacement.
According to a well-placed source in Yash Raj films, here’s how things transpired. “The entire project was planned with Hrithik,” he informs us. “Hrithik and Aditya met over many sittings, discussing the film and Adi clearly told him that the film wouldn’t be made without him.” The script however, as it was shaping up, played villain.
Adds the source, “Hrithik was not happy with the script. Some of the characters he thought were underdeveloped. In fact, the role of the leading lady he believed, was so sketchy that no major actress was willing to do the role. He suggested to Adi that they rework the script for some more time, as it didn’t justify the film’s Rs 160-crore budget. Adi agreed and told him that the script will be further developed before contacting him again. Hrithik told Adi to take his time and that it didn’t matter if it took two months or a year. That he would do the film whenever the script was ready.”
Meanwhile, director Victor Acharya met Aamir. The two had previously worked in Dhoom 3. “Victor narrated the subject to Aamir, and he loved it as it was — without any changes. So Victor grabbed the chance to work with Aamir again.”
When contacted, all three—Hrithik, Aamir and Victor —remained unavailable for comment.
