Sanjay Dutt drops out of of Shuddhi

Karan Johar says that the actor was not offered the role.

On July 16, 2014, Karan Johar tweeted that Salman Khan was on board and Shuddhi would release in Diwali 2016. He replaced Hrithik Roshan who had stepped out of the film citing health issues. "Salman loved (director) Karan Malhotra's narration. He's all instinct and heart, and reacts instantly. Once Karan wraps up Warrior in mid-2014, he'll start work on Shuddhi," KJo told Mirror a day later.

In February 2015, buzz was, Sanjay Dutt had been approached to play the baddie in Shuddhi. Reportedly, his Agneepath director had given him a story narration when he was out on furlough. It was reported that Shuddhi could be the first film he'd shoot for after coming out of jail.

Since May 2013, Sanjay has been serving a 42-month sentence in Yerwada Central Jail for illegal possession of weapons during the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts case.

Mirror has now learnt that Sanjay has dropped out of the film. "He doesn't want to do a negative role immediately after coming out. He will start with OMG-Oh My God! director Umesh Shukla's film in which he plays a hero," informed a source close to the actor.

Umesh had confirmed to Mirror (June 2) that they'd had an initial meeting with Sanjay and he liked this nice, sensible subject with a human angle. Umesh will show the first draft of the screenplay to Sanjay once he is out.

Meanwhile, Salman is also out of Shuddhi which now has a new lead pair in Varun Dhawan and Alia Bhatt.

When Mirror quizzed KJo on the subject he said shortly, "The role of the antagonist in Shuddhi is by far one of the best written anatagonist roles. We have never offered the role to Sanjay. We have yet to cast anyone."