'I was removed for not greeting Ajay Devgn...,' says actor after 'Son of Sardaar 2' ouster

Indian film actor Vijay Raaz claimed that he was removed from Ajay Devgn’s ‘Son of Sardaar 2’, for not greeting the latter, while the makers confirmed that he was dropped due to misconduct.

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After Sanjay Dut and Sonakshi Sinha, yet another actor is not a part of the ensemble cast of ‘Son of Sardaar 2’ anymore, as producers dropped Vijay Raaz from the film, reportedly due to excessive demands during the filming and being too difficult to work with.

Days after the filming of the sequel kickstarted in the UK, with lead actors Devgn and Mrunal Thakur, along with Raaz, Chunky Pandey, Deepak Dobriyal, Vindu Dara Singh, Neeru Bajwa, Kubbra Sait, Mukul Dev, Roshni Walia, Mukul Dev and Ashwini Kalsekar, makers replaced the ‘Welcome’ actor with Sanjay Mishra to play the role. Confirming the development, the film’s co-producer Kumar Mangat Pathak said in a statement to an Indian media outlet: “Yes, it’s true that we have removed Vijay Raaz from the film because of his behaviour on the sets.”

He further explained, “He demanded for bigger rooms, a vanity van and also overcharged us for the spot boys. The UK is an expensive place, and everyone got standard rooms during the shoot, but he demanded premium suites. When we tried explaining the costing scenario to him, he refused to understand and spoke rudely. While we tried to accommodate all his demands, the behaviour kept getting worse, as his demands never ended.”

However, sharing his side of the story, Raaz alleged that he was removed from the project for not greeting the lead actor. He stated, “I reached the location before time for trial. I reached the van, and Ravi Kishan came to meet me. The EP, Ashish, and the producer Kumar Mangat came to meet me, followed by director Vijay Arora. I stepped out of the van, and spotted Ajay Devgn standing around 25 metres away. I didn’t go to greet him as he was busy, and I continued to speak to my friends around. 25 minutes later, Mr. Kumar Mangat came to me and said, ‘Hum Aapko Nikal Rahe Hai (We are dropping you from the fim)’.”

“The only misconduct from my end is, I didn’t greet Mr. Ajay Devgn. I was removed from the film 30 minutes of reaching the sets, as I didn’t greet Ajay Devgn,” he maintained.

Also Read: Sanjay Dutt reacts to rejection of UK visa for ‘Son of Sardaar 2’

Responding to the allegations, makers said in their defence, “Ajay Devgn isn’t someone who is waiting to be greeted by people. He always likes to be surrounded by creative people and treats everyone with respect. The story of him being removed for not greeting Ajay Devgn is false. We suffered a loss of at-least two crore for removing Vijay Raaz from the film and we would not take such a step for small matters.”

“His behaviour was a major area of concern and there is no place for disrespect on the sets of our film, as we work like a family,” added the producer. “There is no place for unprofessional behaviour. It’s a good thing that we removed him before the start of shoot, as his presence and behaviour would have created a lot of issues on the set.”

“We didn’t remove him for not greeting Ajay Devgn, we have removed him for unreasonable demands and misconduct with the crew. He has now even refused to pay back the advance he has taken,” claimed the producer in the end.