SSR stopped responding to Anurag Kashyap after landing Dharma movies
28 Aug 2025

Filmmaker Anurag Kashyap recently revealed that he had initially planned his upcoming film Nishaanchi with late actor Sushant Singh Rajput.

In a recent interview with Galatta Plus, he disclosed that after Rajput landed two major films with Karan Johar's Dharma Productions, he "stopped responding" to him and pushed his movie to the back burner.

The filmmaker also spoke about this in a 2020 interview shortly after Rajput's death.

'Actors have been interested in it...'
Film details

Kashyap stated that he had previously tried to make Nishaanchi.

He said, "Actors have been interested in it, but it never hit home with me with anyone."

"This was the film that I, at one point, wanted to make with Sushant."

"And then he got two very big films, Dil Bechara and Drive, they were both with Dharma earlier."

"Then he stopped responding, so I then moved away. It was announced with him back in 2016."

Similar incident with 'Hasee Toh Phasee'
Film preferences

Kashyap had previously spoken about Rajput backing out of Hasee Toh Phasee, produced by his production house, because he landed YRF's Shuddh Desi Romance.

In a 2020 interview with NDTV, he said, "YRF called him and said, 'We'll give you a deal.'"

"You do Shuddh Desi Romance. Sushant...he signed up with YRF and dropped Hasee Toh Phasee...because usko YRF ka validation chahiye tha (he wanted validation from YRF)."

'I was not upset I moved on I did 'Mukkabaaz'
Career insights

Kashyap further elaborated on Rajput's decision to not work with him.

"Years later, in 2016 before the release of MS Dhoni: The Untold Story, Mukesh (Chhabra) went to Sushant and said 'Anurag has written a script looking for an actor who can play someone based out of Uttar Pradesh.'"

"Dhoni released, became a success and he never called me back."

"I was not upset I moved on I did Mukkabaaz."

Meanwhile, know more about Rajput's career
Career highlights

Rajput entered Bollywood with Kai Po Che! in 2013, later appearing in films such as Shuddh Desi Romance (2013) and PK (2014).

He gained widespread acclaim for portraying Mahendra Singh Dhoni in the biopic M.S. Dhoni: The Untold Story (2016).

His other notable works include Kedarnath (2018), Chhichhore (2019), and Dil Bechara (2020), which marked his final film.

He died by suicide at his Mumbai home on June 14, 2020.