Rana Daggubati has been cast in place of Nana Patekar in Housefull 4, reported Mumbai Mirror. Patekar had left the production last month in the wake of sexual harassment allegations against him by actress Tanushree Dutta.
The Telugu star confirmed the news to Mumbai Mirror. “It is always good to find work outside of Hyderabad, get to learn so much and do so many new things,” Daggubati said.
Daggubati will reportedly play a ghazal singer in the comedy. The scenes involving Patekar that were filmed in Jaisalmer will be re-shot with the Baahubali actor in Mumbai.
Sajid Khan, who was earlier set to direct the film, had also dropped out in October after three women accused him of sexual harassment. Khan denied the allegations and claimed there had been pressure on his family and the film’s cast and producers, because of which he was stepping down. He has been replaced by Farhad Samji, of the writing duo Sajid-Farhad. The Sajid Nadiadwala production is set for a Diwali 2019 release.
Housefull 4 is the fourth installment of the Housefull comedy series created by Sajid Khan. The film stars Akshay Kumar, Riteish Deshmukh, Bobby Deol, Pooja Hegde, Kriti Kharbanda and Kriti Sanon.
Dutta has accused Patekar of intimidating and harassing her while she was filming a song on the sets of the unreleased 2008 film Horn Ok Pleasss. Dutta, who had first made the allegations during the film’s production, reiterated them on September 25 after her return to India from the United States of America. Patekar has called the allegations “motivated and malicious”, while Dutta has filed a police complaint against the actor.
Apart from a successful career in Telugu and Tamil cinema, Daggubati has appeared in several Hindi films including Dum Maaro Dum (2011), Baby (2015) and the Telugu-Hindi biligual The Ghazi Attack (2017).
