Mukesh Khanna has quashed reports of Ranveer Singh taking his legacy forward in the film adaptation of 'Shaktimaan'. The actor shared a YouTube video where he slammed reports that suggested Singh has been roped in to play the role of India's first superhero, originally played by Khanna, in the larger-than-life motion picture adaptation.
Khanna took to his Instagram handle and shared a collage picture of himself and Ranveer Singh. The actor captioned his post, “Pura social media mahinon se is rumour se bhara pada tha ki Ranveer karega Shaktimaan. Aur har koi naaraz tha ise lekar. Main chup raha. Lekin jub channels ne bhi elaan karna shuru kar diya ki Ranveer sign ho gaya hai. To mujhe muhn kholana pada. Aur maine bol diya ki aisi image wala vyakti kitna bhi bada star kyon na ho Shaktimaan nahin ban sakta. I have put my foot down. Ab Aaga aage dekhiye hota hai kya?? There are rumours on social media that Ranveer Singh will portray Shaktimaan. And everyone was angry about it. I remained silent. But when channels started announcing that Ranveer had been signed, then I had to speak up. And I have said that no matter how big a star he is, a person with such an image can never become Shaktimaan. I have put my foot down. Now let's see what happens next."
Adding on to this, the veteran actor also released a video on his YouTube channel in which he condemned Ranveer for his nude photoshoot for Paper magazine. Taking potshots at Ranveer, he said, “If he feels comfortable with nudity, then he should go to countries where he can do nude scenes in every third scene.”
The veteran actor also added, “I have told the producers that your competition is not with Spider-Man, Batman, or Captain Planet. Shaktimaan is not just a superhero; he has also become a super teacher. Now, the actor who takes on the role should have the quality that, when he speaks, people will listen. There are big actors, but their image comes in the middle.”
In 2022, Mukesh Khanna announced that his popular show from 1997, 'Shaktimaan', would be made into a film. Later on, Sony Pictures India also announced that it would back this adaptation of the popular superhero show.
Also read: 'Shaitaan' box office collection: Ajay Devgn-R Madhavan's film enters Rs 100 crore club