Siddharth Nigam replaced by Aaman Devgan as ‘both were star kids’; mother says ‘waited a year’

Actor Siddharth Nigam’s mother has expressed her disappointment over her son being replaced in the film Azaad, after waiting nearly a year with the hope of a big Bollywood launch. In a recent interview with Instant Bollywood, she shared her perspective on how Siddharth, once the first choice for the project, was replaced by Ajay Devgn’s nephew Aaman Devgan.

Without directly accusing anyone, she reflected on the painful realisation that followed. “I took him along for the meeting. The entire script was narrated, and we waited for a year. I was happy because the film was good, and Siddharth would have had a strong launch in Bollywood. I really loved the script,” she said. However, her hopes were dashed when Siddharth later showed her a poster of Azaad, which featured Aaman Devgan and Rasha Thadani. “For the first time in my life, I felt bad,” she admitted, acknowledging that both the lead actors were star kids. “As a mother, it hurts. Then I realised both of them were star kids, and that made all the difference.”

Siddharth, who has long been navigating the film industry as an outsider, remained composed. Speaking on the situation, he shared, “There’s no one to blame. This is the business industry, so there’s no point in asking why they did it — they must have had their own reasons. It’s more of a personal realisation and pain.” He added that while it was a difficult moment, they decided to accept it and move on.

Azaad film is the period action drama, directed by Abhishek Kapoor and produced by Ronnie Screwvala and Pragya Kapoor, marked the debut of Aaman Devgan and Rasha Thadani. Featuring Ajay Devgn and Diana Penty in key roles, the film failed to impress both critically and commercially, collecting only ?8 crore globally.

Meanwhile, Siddharth Nigam is receiving appreciation for his latest role in Hai Junoon!, a musical drama streaming on JioHotstar. Produced by Aditya Bhat and directed by Abhishek Sharma, the series stars Neil Nitin Mukesh, Boman Irani, Jacqueline Fernandez, Sumedh Mudgalkar and Yukti Thareja alongside Siddharth.