Anurag Kashyap Reveals Why Sushant Singh Rajput Cut Off Communication With Him

Anurag Kashyap is preparing for the release of his upcoming film, Nishaanchi. Starring Vineet Kumar Singh in the leading role, the movie is slated to be released in theatres on September 19, 2025. In the lead-up to the film’s release, Anurag has shared that he had initially offered the role to the late actor Sushant Singh Rajput. He mentioned that Sushant stopped responding to him after accepting roles in two big projects, Dil Bechara and Drive. Anurag Kashyap told Galatta Plus, “Actors have been interested in it but it never hit home with me with anyone. I said I will make it the right way. This was the film that I, at one point, wanted to make with Sushant Singh Rajput. And then he got two very big films, Dil Bechara and Drive,  they were both with Dharma earlier. Then my film was on a backburner, then I was also… then he stopped responding, so I then moved away. It was announced with him back in 2016.”

In 2020, Anurag had said, while speaking to NDTV, “YRF called him and said, ‘We’ll give you a deal. You do Shuddh Desi Romance.’ Sushant, who used to sit in my office with Mukesh (Chhabra) and all of us used to sit together, he signed up with YRF and dropped Hasee Toh Phasee, a film of an outsider, because usko YRF ka validation chahiye tha (he wanted validation from YRF). It’s with every actor, so I am not holding any grudges.”

Sushant Singh Rajput made his Bollywood debut with the 2013 film Kai Po Che! He was also seen in various other films, including Shuddh Desi Romance (2013) and PK (2014). He also played the character of Mahendra Singh Dhoni in the biopic M.S. Dhoni: The Untold Story (2016). Some of Sushant’s other noteworthy films include Kedarnath (2018), Chhichhore (2019), and Dil Bechara (2020), which was his last film.

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