Mukesh Khanna Opposes Ranveer Singh's Casting As Shaktimaan

Reports that Shaktimaan is being turned into a movie surfaced in 2022. Ranveer Singh was rumoured to take on the iconic role. Mukesh Khanna, who immortalised the character in the television series, has questioned Singh's casting. In a new interview with Subhojit Ghosh, he underlined his refusal to budge and let the makers do things with the character that don't sit well with him. He revealed that he stopped a cheque worth crores while objecting to the way a planned film was being developed.

The actor stated that he has blocked Sony India and Sony International from moving ahead with the film without his explicit approval. Much of his reservations circle casting. He's particularly convinced that Ranveer Singh, despite his lobbying, isn't the right choice for Shaktimaan. Instead, he believes the actor could play the villain Kilwish.

Mukesh Khanna's Objections To Ranveer Singh's Casting

“Ranveer Singh can play Dhurandhar, Gully Boy, Khilji but not Shaktimaan. For that, we need the right image and face, something he doesn’t have. He has a mischievous face, a scheming face. Shaktimaan has to be very positive, very positive. So you’re right that I have said something like that about that actor. I never said that he is a bad actor,” insisted Khanna in a statement.

“No doubt, commercially, I am behaving like a stupid person. I have held back a cheque worth crores, not lakhs, crores. People in my own office told me, ‘Sir, take the cheque. You can fight later.’ I said, ‘Keep quiet. Don’t talk about this.’ I told them to wait. I said, ‘I don’t want to do it.’ Money does not come before principles. I said, ‘I had told you that you would make Shaktimaan only after consulting me.’ Now they have put in a condition saying, ‘No, sir, we will consult you, but we will do things our own way.’ I said, ‘That is not done,’” he said.

He has concerns that Shaktimaan could be changed too much for a modern film. “Tomorrow, you'll show him dancing in a disco. Tomorrow, you'll make him do something else…” he said. Khanna is deeply protective of the show's legacy, striking out any efforts to take it in a direction that might hurt it.