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Throwback: DYK Shahid Kapoor’s Kabir Singh was first offered to Ranveer Singh, who rejected it because it was ‘too dark’?
As Dhurandhar dominates the 2025 box office, an old interview reveals Ranveer Singh rejected Kabir Singh for being "too dark," leading Sandeep Reddy Vanga to cast Shahid Kapoor.
Ranveer Singh is finally back where he belongs—at the summit of the box office. After a period where his films struggled to find commercial success, his latest action-packed outing, Dhurandhar, has become a certified phenomenon. Coming two years after the success of Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani, this film has effectively redefined Ranveer's star power, becoming the highest-grossing release of 2025 and even overtaking the massive lifetime earnings of hits like Stree 2, Chhaava, and Pathaan.
As the Dhurandhar fever sweeps the nation, fans have unearthed a fascinating piece of history: an old interview with Sandeep Reddy Vanga, in which he revealed that Ranveer was actually the first choice for the 2019 blockbuster Kabir Singh. The resurfaced clip has sent social media into a frenzy, reminding everyone how close we came to a very different version of that story. In the interview, Vanga explained that Ranveer ultimately passed on the role because he felt the character was "too dark" for him at that stage of his career.
Speaking with iDream Media, Vanga recalled the pressure he felt to remake his Telugu hit Arjun Reddy for Bollywood. “I was continuously getting calls from Mumbai to do the remake. First, it was pitched to Ranveer Singh. I wanted to do it with him. But finally, he decided he will not do it, because it was too dark for him at that time,” Vanga shared.
When the role eventually moved to Shahid Kapoor, not everyone was on board. At the time, Shahid hadn't yet crossed the 100-crore milestone with a solo film, and the industry was skeptical. Vanga remembered the pushback: “After Ranveer passed, Shahid was approached. But people weren’t convinced. Shahid’s track record was a concern; none of his solo films had done Rs 100 crore then, his highest was Rs 65 crore. They used to say Rs 55 crore, Rs 65 crore is the kind of business Telugu movies do. ‘Why are you doing it with this guy? If it was Ranveer, the box office would be higher’. But I was always sure about Shahid, he’s a fantastic actor.”
Naturally, the internet has plenty of opinions on this "what if" scenario. Some fans believe Ranveer likely felt a pang of FOMO later on, with one user commenting, “I am sure he (Ranveer) regretted rejecting this role because after the success of Animal he spoke for 40 minutes with Vanga post Animal's success, even writing paens for it.” Others defended the decision, noting that Ranveer had just come off playing the intense Alauddin Khilji and wanted a break from "toxic" characters. As one netizen put it, “This is an old news from 2019 . At that time Ranveer had already signed 83 , jayeshbhai and didn’t want to do back to back toxic characters post Khilji . Vanga and Ranveer are still cordial with each other.”
The mutual respect between the two clearly remains. Vanga recently praised Dhurandhar, noting that Ranveer "disappeared" into his role, and Ranveer was a vocal fan of Vanga's Animal. With Dhurandhar proving that Ranveer is back in his prime, it feels like only a matter of time before these two finally team up to create some cinematic chaos.
