I have no idea why I am not doing Paani - Hrithik Roshan

Superstar Hrithik Roshan may be busy promoting Krrish3 right now but two mega-projects have quietly slipped out of his hands. First arrived news him not being a part of Shekhar Kapur’s ambitious project Paani. And even before the dust around this news could settle in, came another jolt from the blue. Ashutosh Gowariker, who had Hrithik in mind for his historical next on the Indus Valley civilization, also replaced the actor. And surprisingly, replacing Hrithik in both these films is Yashraj Film’s latest blue-eyed boy, Sushant Singh Rajput. Interestingly, Paani which was officially announced by Shekhar Kapur at 2010 Cannes Film Festival couldn’t take off and remained shelved until Yashraj Films threw its hat into the ring and decided to fund it now. And immediately came the announcement of Hrithik being replaced by YRF favourite Sushant Singh who is the current flavor of the season. When asked the reason behind him not being a part of Paani at Kid Krrish’s press conference, Hrithik replied with a curt “I don’t know. I have no idea’. It is pertinent to note that just last year, Hrithik was quoted saying ‘Working with Shekhar Kapur is a lifelong dream of mine. Paani is a dream and I hope it happens.’ Even when a volley of speculations about Ranbir having replaced Hrithik were doing the rounds, the filmmaker immediately clarified through twitter that ‘Anyone would be silly to give up Hrithik for a film?’ So after such voluptuous display of public bonhomie, we wonder what went wrong between the two. Or is there something more to it than what actually meets the real eye? When we checked Shekhar’s official blog, we found that he had blogged his angst about not being able to work with Hrithik in Paani. ‘Which Director in his right mind would ever give up a chance to work with Hrithik Roshan?’ wrote Shekhar and continued… ‘Years ago, as I sat down to write Paani, I had one image in mind to play the male lead. Hrithik Roshan. The character I described in the script was completely Hrithik. His manner, his inner world, his conflicts... were all Hrithik. I sat with AR Rahman and as we composed music together, I always would ask him to imagine Hrithik. But then the years passed. … The script kept evolving... Changing. And Hrithik changed too. He went from being a young man uncertain of himself, a young man looking for his identity in this world, with no understanding of the power, the rebellion inside him that would change his life... to what Hrithik is today. The Superhero. The man who is the protector, the man who can take on the world single handedly. Hrithik evolved into Krrish. And then I realized I had left it too late. So while I lost the chance to cast Hrithik in Paani, I hope that he would still agree to be in one of my next film. In Hollywood probably.” An attempt at reading between the lines throws multiple permutations and combinations. The lines ‘from a young man to a Superhero’ refer to Hrithik’s transformation into an acting superstar. And then Shekhar writes ‘I realized I had left it too late.’ Is it a hint at the monetary remuneration that Hrithik demanded? And Shekhar is still hopeful of working with Hrithik in ‘Hollywood’. Why not Bollywood, we ask. Well, lots of questions remaining unanswered. May be, Shekhar will throw more light on it in days to come.