Sai Pallavi is currently gearing up for the release of her Telugu film Thandel alongside Naga Chaitanya. Recently, at a pre-release event in Hyderabad, Sandeep Reddy Vanga graced as the chief guest where he revealed that he originally planned to cast Sai in the 2017 hit film Arjun Reddy opposite Vijay Deverakonda in the lead.
Recalling why he did not cast her, Sandeep said he had found a coordinator from Kerala, only to realise later that the person wasn’t one.
“I spoke to him saying that I have a story about a guy who is destroyed in love. It’s a very romantic story also. I want to cast Sai Pallavi as a heroine in my film. He said, ‘What is the romantic quotient in Arjun Reddy?’ I said, ‘It is more than what we usually see in Telugu cinema’. He said, ‘Sir, forget about it. The girl will not even wear sleeveless. Forget about it,'” said Vanga.
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Sandeep further lauded Sai and stated that she has not changed at all. “Eventually, heroines will change over the period of time, based on opportunities. But to see Sai Pallavi not changing at all, it’s great. It’s really great actually,” he added.
Eventually, Shalini Pandey was cast as the female lead in Arjun Reddy. The supporting cast included Rahul Ramakrishna, Jia Sharma, Sanjay Swaroop, Gopinath Bhat, Kamal Kamaraju, and Kanchan.
The film went on to become a huge box office success, grossing Rs 51 crore globally.
Arjun Reddy was remade in Hindi as Kabir Singh (2019) alongside Shahid Kapoor and Kiara Advani in the lead.
