Abhishek Bachchan replaced by Harshvardhan Rane in JP Dutta's Paltan

Sep 29, 2017 Abhishree Kulkarni

JP Dutta, who is well known for his war films like ‘Border’ and ‘LOC Kargil’ recently had announced his upcoming film titled 'Paltan'.

It was earlier reported that Abhishek Bachchan was offered the film. However, later Abhishek decided to walk out of the film.

JP Dutta's daughter Niddhi Dutta confirmed the same in a statement, “Abhishek Bachchan is no longer part of ‘Paltan’ for personal reasons best known to him. It has come as a shock to us as this happened less than 24 hours before our unit left to shoot in Ladakh. But we also believe that; especially in the movies we make, it's the soldiers sitting up there that choose who will play them and recreate their lives on screen. Nevertheless, we wish him luck in his future endeavours. We are already in Ladakh filming with our entire cast and crew and Army personnel. We will announce the actor who is replacing Abhishek in the film soon.”

The filmmakers have fortunately found an actor to replace Abhishek Bachchan and it will be Harshvardhan Rane who made his Bollywood debut with ‘Sanam Teri Kasam’ (2016).

A source has revealed, “While Abhishek was initially cast in JP Dutta’s ‘Paltan’, he will no longer be part of the film. He has now been replaced by Harshvardhan Rane, who also has a massive fan following despite being just a film old in Bollywood.”

The source further added that, “The makers were looking for a tall actor who not only had a great screen presence but was also physically fit. The role is as challenging as it is physically demanding and after Abhishek, Harshvardhan Rane was the perfect fit. In fact, JP Dutta was blown away by Harsh in the very first meeting and immediately knew he had found the actor he was looking for.”

Niddhi Dutta has also confirmed the same. She said, "Yes, we have signed Harshvardhan Rane for ‘Paltan’ but it’s too early to divulge anything about the movie or his role.”

JP Dutta’s ‘Paltan’ is scheduled to release during the summer of 2018.