Anurag Kashyap's Kennedy is set to premiere at the ongoing Cannes Film Festival 2023 on May 24. The filmmaker revealed in an interview that Rahul Bhat, who plays the titular role, was not his first choice for the neo-noir drama. In fact, he had named the film Kennedy as he wanted to cast Chiyaan Vikram, whose real name is Kennedy John Victor.
Talking to Film Companion, Kashyap said, "I had a specific actor in mind when I wrote this film, which is why the film is called Kennedy. Because that actor's nickname is Kennedy. The film was called Kennedy Project. It is Chiyaan Vikram. Chiyaan Vikram's real name is Kennedy. I reached out to him. He never responded."
On Monday, Vikram took to his Twitter and penned a long note to the director explaining why he didn't receive any message from him. "Dear @anuragkashyap72, Just revisiting our conversation from over a year ago for the sake of our friends and well-wishers on social media. When I heard from another actor that you had tried to reach me for this film & that you felt I hadn’t responded to you, I called you myself immediately and explained that I hadn’t gotten any mail or msg from you as the mail id that you had contacted me on was no longer active and my number had changed almost 2 years before that."
"As I said during that phone call, I’m very excited for your film Kennedy and even more so because it has my name. I wish you great times ahead. Lots of love Chiyaan Vikram aka Kennedy", the Ponniyin Selvan star further added. The Black Friday director responded to him with a lengthy tweet, thanking him to use his name for the film.
"Absolutely right Boss sir. For the information of people, when he found from another actor that I was trying to reach to him he called me directly and we realised that he had a different WhatsApp number. He gave me his correct information to reach out and even showed interest in reading the script but by then we were all locked and a month away from shooting. He also graciously blessed us to use the name Kennedy for the film", Kashyap wrote.
Anurag further assured that he will collaborate with Vikram in the future as he added, "What I stated in the interview was the story behind, how the film got to be called Kennedy. There is no need for any overreaction. And definitely I think neither Chiyaan sir or I am retiring without working together. FYI we go back to pre Sethu days."
For the unversed, Anurag Kashyap was hired to direct the official Hindi remake of Vikram's 1999 Tamil romantic drama Sethu, but he was removed from the project as he asked Salman Khan to not shave his chest. The late actor-director Satish Kaushik replaced him and helmed the 2003 film, which became Tere Naam.
READ | Anurag Kashyap reveals he named Kennedy after his first choice Vikram: 'I reached out to him, he never responded'
