Riteish Deshmukh rejects Dada Kondke biopic?

Dada Kondke and Riteish Deshmukh

It was widely reported that Riteish Deshmukh would essay the protagonist's role in the Dada Kondke biopic. However, industry sources suggest the actor has let go of the project that he was apparently excited about a few months ago.

Dada Kondke and Riteish Deshmukh

Says a source, "The makers had approached Riteish for the titular role and given him a bound script of the film apart from a book on Kondke. He was really enthused about the biopic then and had orally committed to them about doing the film. But now he doesn't want to be a part of it. He has excused himself by saying that his date diary is packed at the moment."

A source working on the project says with Riteish opting out of the film, the makers are scouting for another actor to play the Marathi actor-producer on the big screen. "The script was locked and Riteish was excited about what would have been his first biopic.

Now the casting process has to be started again and as soon as things are finalised, an official announcement will be made."

Riteish and the film's director, Sanjay Jadhav, were not available for comment.

The biopic, which will be co-produced by Akshay Kumar, had run into trouble a few months ago when Dada Kondke Pratishthan, an organisation run by the actor's co-stars Usha Chavan and Vasant Bhalekar, opposed it stating that the organisation had exclusive rights to all his films.