Overview

• Khanna reiterated his refusal to cast Ranveer Singh as Shaktimaan, offering him the villain Tamraj Kilvish instead and citing fan concerns that Singh’s off-screen persona would undermine the hero’s image.
• Director Basil Joseph and production partners have publicly affirmed Singh as the only choice for the lead role, insisting no other actor will headline the planned trilogy.
• Khanna maintains he holds the underlying intellectual property rights and says he granted Sony a seven-year film option but regrets not securing a contractual veto over casting.
• He pointed to Singh’s controversial nude photoshoot as a specific reason why the actor’s public image conflicts with the moral gravitas associated with Shaktimaan.
• Sony Pictures announced the Shaktimaan film trilogy in 2022 to modernize the cult TV superhero, yet ongoing casting disputes have stalled progress and left the project in limbo.