Punjabi actresses who got replaced

They say one's loss is another's gain and this saying true especially in the Punjabi cinema world. Blame it on the unavailability of dates or the producer’s or director’s idea, there is no telling to who and why actresses are replaced with other actresses in a film.

With a number of Punjabi movies coming this year and a number of films that have already made it to the box office, here’s a brief on the major replacements that Pollywood witnessed recently. Scroll down:

Last year when the makers of ‘Surkhi Bindi’ presented the poster of the movie with the release date, it clearly mentioned that the film will be starring Simi Chahal opposite Gurnam Bhullar. However, now as the shoot of the movie has begun, and it’s not Simi Chahal but Sargun Mehta who is essaying the part of the lead actress. The reason behind this change in the cast is not known but the news came as quite a disappointment for Simi Chahal’s fans.

The Smeep Kang directorial ‘Naukar Vahuti Da’ earlier had Kavita Kaushik in the lead role alongside Binnu Dhillon. However, right before the movie went on the floors, the news of Kavita Kaushik stepping down from the project made headlines. Reportedly, Kavita Kaushik dropped her part because she was done with being eye candy in a movie and wanted some substance in her character. However, things didn’t work out that way and she gave up on her role. The part was then offered to Kulraj Randhawa, and ‘Naukar Vahuti Da’ will now mark her comeback on the Pollywood front.

The movie ‘PR’ was announced as an untitled project last year. After almost a decade Manmohan Singh and Harbhajan Mann were coming together, so the movie got a lot of attention right from the word go. Besides, the first time pairing of Harbhajan Mann and Mandy Takhar also created a lot of buzz. However, when the movie started rolling, Delbar Arya was announced as the leading lady in the movie. Reportedly, the makers and Mandy Takhar couldn’t settle on the ground of finances. The actress said that finances weren’t discussed initially and when the same topic came up, she wasn’t happy with what she was being offered. Thus, she backed down.

In a couple of aforementioned scenarios, the actresses were replaced before the camera started rolling; however, the case with ‘Laddu Barfi’ is a little different. When the movie went on the floors, actress Ronica Singh was playing the lead opposite Roshan Prince; however, later, she was replaced by Isha Rikhi. A source close to the movie said that it was the director's call to replace the actress. When asked about why such a decision was made, the source said the technicalities behind the same hasn’t been unveiled.

The beauty from the South Cineworld Kajal Aggarwal was reportedly planning to make her Punjabi debut this year with the movie ‘Kala Shah Kala’. There were reports that she will be making her Pollywood debut opposite Binnu Dhillon. However, later the makers announced that not Kajal Aggarwal but Sargun Mehta has been finalised to play the female lead in the movie. Reportedly, before Sargun Mehta the movie was offered to a couple of other actresses, but perhaps the ‘Qismat’ fame star was destined to do the respective role.