Ali Zafar has not been replaced in Dear Zindagi. Actress Alia Bhatt, who plays the female lead in the Gauri Shinde film, put rumours of his replacement to rest at a recent press conference. “Nobody is being replaced. The film will release in its full form. There isn’t much conversation happening around who’s being replaced and who’s not. So, we can leave the edge of that topic for sometime since it has died down.”
Director Gauri Shinde too reiterated the point. Speaking to DNA, she said, “I never wanted to replace him (Ali Zafar). I just kept my fingers crossed. There was a lot of work to do so there was no time to sit and worry as post production work was going on.”
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Contradictory reports surfaced earlier this year about the presence of Pakistani actor and singer Ali Zafar in Gauri Shinde’s film Dear Zindagi. While some sections of the media reported that Ali Zafar had been dropped from the film because of increasing tensions around Pakistani actors working in Indian films (as with the Ae Dil Hai Mushkil controversy), others reported that he was still in the film. “Ali Zafar has already been replaced in the film and he has been replaced with Tahir Raj Bhasin, Rani Mukerji’s nemesis from Mardaani,” a source told Deccan Chronicle. The source added that a dance shoot was underway with Alia Bhatt and Tahir Raj. A DNA report, however, said that Tahir had only been used in a promotional song.
Meanwhile, Dear Zindagi has received an U/A certificate from the CBFC.
Featured Image Courtesy: Tribune