Ayushmann Khurrana & Kartik Aaryan refused Hungama 2, reveals Priyadarshan

Regarded as one of the finest filmmakers working in the Indian film industry, Priyadarshan is making his Bollywood comeback with the upcoming film Hungama 2. As the title suggests, the movie is a sequel to his superhit comic-caper Hungama (2003). It features Meezaan Jaffery, Pranitha Subhash, Shilpa Shetty and Paresh Rawal in lead roles.

Talking to a newswire, the acclaimed filmmaker reveals that he had initially approached actors like Ayushmann Khurrana and Kartik Aaryan to star in the sequel, but none of them showed interest in the project. The filmmaker then went on to rope in newcomer Meezaan Jaffery who made his acting debut with Malaal (2019).

“I did not go directly to meet them but my concept was narrated to a lot of actors like Ayushmann Khurrana, Kartik Aaryan and Siddharth Malhotra. They all refused to do the film. Now, I am working with Meezaan. They all refused because maybe they thought I am an outdated director, because I was out of the Hindi film industry for five years,” Priyadarshan says.

The filmmaker goes on to add that he prefers working with actors who believe in his conviction. “They seemed disinterested. They do not tell it to you on your face. I do not like to beg to actors and prefer to work with somebody who believes in me. Many times, when you request an actor to do a film, they show respect to you, offer you coffee and nicely they will avoid you, because maybe they do not trust you,” he says.

Priyadarshan, who started filming Hungama 2 a couple of months ago, is happy with the way the film has shaped up so far. He reveals that both the original and sequel have a common theme - confusion. “It is a film of total misunderstanding. The old film is about misunderstanding and confusion and same is the case with Hungama 2 but the story is different.”