Director Anurag Kashyap, recently in an interview on the sidelines of the Cannes Film Festival, said that he had approached actor Chiyaan Vikram for the lead in his upcoming film Kennedy. While revealing the reason behind the film’s title, Anurag had said that he had reached Vikram since his real name is Kennedy John Victor, for the role, but since he didn’t respond, he went with actor Rahul Bhat.
Vikram took to Twitter on Monday to issue a clarification. Stating that the mail id Anurag contacted him on was no longer active and even his number had changed when the director reached out to him for the role, Vikram wrote, “Dear @anuragkashyap72, Just revisiting our conversation from over a year ago for the sake of our friends and well-wishers on social media. When I heard from another actor that you had tried to reach me for this film & that you felt I hadn’t responded to you, I called you myself immediately and explained that I hadn’t gotten any mail or msg from you as the mail id that you had contacted me on was no longer active and my number had changed almost 2 years before that.”
The actor also said that he is very excited for the film, especially since it is named after him. “As I said during that phone call, I’m very excited for your film Kennedy and even more so because it has my name. I wish you great times ahead.”
Anurag also replied to the tweet and said that Vikram did call him after knowing that he was trying to reach him. He also said that the actor was interested in reading the script, but by that time, it was too late. “Absolutely right, Boss sir. For the information of people, when he found out from another actor that I was trying to reach him, he called me directly, and we realised that he had a different WhatsApp number. He gave me his correct information to reach out and even showed interest in reading the script, but by then, we were all locked and a month away from shooting,” wrote Anurag.
Clarifying that what he said in the interview was only the story behind the film’s title, Anurag said there was no need for any “overreaction”. “He also graciously blessed us to use the name Kennedy for the film. What I stated in the interview was the story behind how the film got to be called Kennedy. There is no need for any overreaction. And definitely, I think neither Chiyaan sir nor I am retiring without working together. FYI we go back to pre-Sethu days,” he added.
Apart from Rahul, Kennedy also stars Sunny Leone and Abhilash Thapliyal. The film has been selected for a Midnight Screening at Cannes.