Mukesh Khanna famously portrayed the superhero Shaktimaan on the DD National show of the same name for eight years from 1997 to 2005. The veteran actor also produced the show. In 2022, Sony Pictures India had announced that it would bring the desi superhero on the big screen.
Recently, there have been reports that Ranveer Singh will be playing Shaktimaan in the film. Reacting to such reports, Khanna had shared an Instagram post and YouTube video expressing his displeasure on reports of Singh's casting as the superhero and bashed the Gully Boy actor for his nude photoshoot two years ago. On Monday evening, on March 18, the veteran actor deleted his earlier posts and uploaded a new video titled Shaktimaan Kaun on his YouTube channel and Instagram page. "Breaking news. Casting is not yet done. We will update you soon," read the text in the clip.
Taking to his Instagram, the veteran actor had shared a collage photo of himself and the Simmba actor, and wrote, "Pura social media mahinon se is rumour se bhara pada tha ki Ranveer karega Shaktimaan. Aur har koi naaraz tha ise lekar. Main chup raha. Lekin jub channels ne bhi elaan karna shuru kar diya ki Ranveer sign ho gaya hai. To mujhe muhn kholana pada. Aur maine bol diya ki aisi image wala vyakti kitna bhi bada star kyon na ho Shaktimaan nahin ban sakta. I have put my foot down. Ab aage aage dekhiye hota hai kya? (Since a few months, there have been rumours on social media that Ranveer would play Shaktimaan. Everyone was upset about it, but I remained silent. But, when channels also announced that Ranveer has been signed for the film, I had to speak up. And I have said that an actor with such an image, no matter how big he is, can never become Shaktimaan. I have put my foot down. Now, let's see what happens next?)."
On his YouTube channel, Khanna had slammed Singh for his nude photoshoot, that he did for Paper magazine in 2022. In the video, he asked the latter to go to countries such as Spain and Finland where there are nudist camps and he can go nude in every third scene of a film. "Agar nude photoshoot kar diya toh ismein hum logon ko kya aapatti honi chahiye, kya hum iske liye used to nahi hain? Yes, hum iske liye used to nahi hain. Maryaada mein rahiye (If you have done a nude photoshoot, then what should we expect, are we not used to it? Yes, we are not used to this. Stay in your limits)", the veteran actor had said.
There have been reports that actor-director Basil Joseph, who helmed the 2021 Malayalam superhero film Minnal Murali starring Tovino Thomas in the lead role, would direct the Ranveer Singh-starrer Shaktimaan film. But, no official announcement about the actor or the director has been made till yet.
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