Director Anurag Kashyap and his upcoming noir-police drama are in the headlines for various reasons, including its screening at the Cannes Film Festival 2023. Apart from this, the filmmaker recently stated that he reached out to Kennedy's namesake Chiyaan Vikram for the film. However, he claimed that the latter did not respond. On Monday, the South star dropped a clarification tweet on the matter.
For the unversed, Kashyap revealed that the film was initially written with popular South superstar Chiyaan Vikram in mind, as his nickname is Kennedy. In an interview with Film Companion during the Cannes Film Festival, Kashyap expressed that he had reached out to Vikram, but received no response. Consequently, he approached Rahul Bhat for the role, who enthusiastically accepted and dedicated eight months of his life to the film.
Coming back to Vikram’s tweet, he 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immediately and explained that I hadn’t gotten any mail or msg from you as the mail id that you had contacted me on was no longer active and my number had changed almost 2 years before that. 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.”
Replying to the National Award-winning actor, Anurag clarified the situation regarding his earlier comments. He explained that after learning from another actor that he had been trying to contact Chiyaan Vikram, Vikram personally called him and they discovered that there had been a mix-up with their WhatsApp numbers. Vikram expressed interest in reading the script, but unfortunately, at that time, they were already locked and just a month away from the shooting.
Absolutely right Boss sir. For the information of people, when he found from another actor that I was trying to reach to 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… https://t.co/1xmImitvHY
— Anurag Kashyap (@anuragkashyap72) May 22, 2023
Kashyap mentioned that Vikram graciously gave his blessings for the film to be named Kennedy. He emphasized that his earlier interview was simply about the backstory of how the film acquired its title and there was no need for any overreaction. He also assured that both he and Chiyaan Vikram have a long-standing relationship, dating back to the days before Sethu, and they are unlikely to retire without collaborating on a project together.
Also Read: Anurag Kashyap reveals that he reached out to Kennedy namesake Chiyaan Vikram for the film; says, “He never responded”