Can you guess who suggested Sara Ali Khan's name for Rohit Shetty's Simmba? It's none other than Abhishek Kapoor - Sara's first director. In an interview with Mumbai Mirror, Abhishek Kapoor, who directed Sara in Kedarnath, said: "In fact, I was the one who called up Rohit and told him to consider Sara for his film after Kedarnath hit a rough patch with the earlier producer. I want Sara to be out there and do as much work as possible. So, when she mentioned that she would like to do Simmba, I connected with Rohit." Over the past few months, both Simmba and Kedarnath have featured in headlines over speculation about which film would actually mark Sara's Bollywood debut.
After a prolonged wait and several reported rescheduling of dates, the release date of Kedarnath was revealed to be December 7 in the trailer - which is three weeks ahead of Simmba. "The idea of making this film was not to launch anyone. I wanted to make Kedarnath and Sara was perfect for the project. Which of her films would come first never bothered me, what was important is that my film gets a good release," Abhishek Kapoor added in the interview.
Meanwhile, Ronnie Screwvala took over as the producer of Kedarnath after the reported rift between director Abhishek Kapoor and Prerna Arora of KriArj Entertainment, who parted ways earlier this year. By the time Ronnie Screwvala joined as the co-producer (Abhishek Kapoor is the primary producer of the film), Sara's talent management agency had already assigned her dates to Simmba, which coincided with Kedarnath. After bhishek Kapoor took legal action against the agency, Sara's father Saif Ali Khan intervened and the matter was settled amicably. Sara has been shooting for Kedarnath and Simmba simultaneously.
Clarifying his action over clashing dates, this is what Abhishek Kapoor told Mumbai Mirror: "The agency simply jumped to the conclusion that I would not be able to get out of the mess I was in and gave away my dates without discussing it with me even once. It was a slip-up from their side, our schedule was really tight and to resolve the matter, we had to move court. The purpose was not to fight but find an amicable solution which we did."
Sara Ali Khan co-stars with Ranveer Singh in Simmba, which hits screens on December 28. She stars opposite Sushant Singh Rajput in Kedarnath, which is a love story set against the backdrop of the 2013 Kedarnath floods. Meanwhile, Sara Ali Khan has reportedly come on board for Imtiaz Ali's new film, in which she is said to be co-starring with Kartik Aryan.
