Not Nawazuddin, ‘Tiku Weds Sheru’ was supposed to star Irrfan Khan

The trailer for Kangana Ranaut’s long-awaited maiden production film Tiku Weds Sheru was finally launched on Wednesday. At the trailer launch in Mumbai, Ranaut spoke about the delays in making the film, with one of the reasons being late actor Irrfan Khan’s death, as per Hindustan Times.

Tiku Weds Sheru stars Ranaut and Nawazuddin Siddiqui in the lead roles, but the comedy film was initially supposed to see Khan as the film's main star. The Queen actor revealed that the film was initially called Divine Lovers and was launched back in 2016 in the presence of the original cast, Khan and Ranaut, along with director Sai Kabir, fresh off the acclaim of the 2014 film Revolver Rani, that starred her in the titular role.

Tiku Weds Sheru was first stalled because the director felt severely ill for three to four years. Ranaut added that when Kabir returned to working on the script, Khan passed away in April 2020. "That really demotivated us,” she lamented.

Ranaut added that she was also not in the same frame of mind that she was in eight to ten years ago. "We wanted the Kangana who was still an aspiring actor, who still saw dreams of coming to Mumbai to act in films," she said. However, things started falling into place when the script was approved and loved by Aparna Purohit, Head of India Originals, Amazon Prime Video. "Once Prime Video came on board, it paved the way for everything else," she added.

Another big hurdle was finding another actor to fill the shoes of the late Khan. When Ranaut was looking to cast Siddiqui in the lead role, she was told he wouldn't sign another film for five years. “But I called him, and he said he’s in Bengaluru and asked me to come over if I wanted to meet. When I actually made the trip, he was so impressed that he agreed to do the film, even before reading the script,” she recalled.

Tiku Weds Sheru, produced by Manikarnika Films, will drop on Prime Video India on June 23.