Just a few days before the film goes on floors, the cast of Madhur Bhandarkar’s film ‘Heroine’ has undergone a change, thanks to leading lady Kareena Kapoor. According to sources close to the project, the actress refused to get intimate with actor Arunoday Singh on screen. And Randeep Hooda had to fill in Singh’s shoes. Arunoday had been a part of the project from the very beginning. At that time, Singh was to share screen space with Aishwarya Rai Bachchan. An excited Arunoday had then said, “Why feel the pressure? I am not going to fight a battle. To work with Aishwarya would be amazing and I am looking forward to it.”
The decision to replace Arunoday with Randeep has however, come as a surprise. Hooda, in his Bollywood career spanning a decade, has carved a niche for himself in films that are generally tagged as ‘different’. The five film old Singh too entered the same space, eight years later. But leading lady Kareena seems to prefer Hooda to the newer actor. “Kareena approved of Randeep filling up for Arunoday. She was also informed at the earlier stage when Randeep was being approached,” informed our source. “Randeep is very happy to work with Bhandarkar and UTV. ‘Heroine’, after all, is a big film. He will be playing a cricketer in it,” added the source.
Bhandarkar confirmed, “The role was changed. Randeep suits it more now. Arunoday is a very talented guy. I am looking forward to working with him in the future.”
