Shraddha
Kapoor
was
to
essay
the
role
of
ace
badminton
player
in
Amole
Gupte's
Saina.
However,
the
actress
was
replaced
by
Parineeti
Chopra
after
shooting
for
a
few
portions
of
the
film.
Recently,
in
a
tete-a-tete
with
Bollywood
Hungama,
director
Amol
Gupte
opened
up
about
Shraddha's
exit
from
the
project.
The
filmmaker
revealed
that
the
decision
to
relieve
Shraddha
was
a
studio
mandate,
as
producer
Bhushan
Kumar
wanted
a
lead
actor
for
his
film
Street
Dancer
3D.
Gupte
said
that
the
switch
was
'happy
happy'
Amol
was
quoted
as
saying
by
the
news
portal,
"Maybe
because
I
haven't
spoken
about
this,
people
must
have
felt
that
there
was
conflict
behind-the-scenes.
Fortunately
for
me,
that
didn't
happen."
The
filmmaker
said,
"Shraddha
was
in
full
preparation,
which
is
why
we
started
shooting.
She
practiced
hard
to
become
Saina,
and
was
doing
good
work.
But
she
got
dengue,
and
became
frail
after
spending
a
month
in
bed.
She
kept
asking
me
if
she
could
try
and
return,
and
we
kept
pushing.
But
one
day,
she
admitted
that
she
was
feeling
too
weak."
Speaking
about
how
Saina
isn't
the
sort
of
film
in
which
an
actor
can
deliver
a
performance
without
much
physical
exertion,
Amole
continued,
"Here,
you're
supposed
to
play
badminton
for
12
hours."
He
revealed
that
it
was
agreed
to
let
Shraddha
go
and
shoot
Chhichhore,
as
the
team
had
booked
a
shooting
location
that
wouldn't
have
been
available
later.
But
once
she
wrapped
that
movie,
producer
Bhushan
Kumar
requested
Amole
if
she
could
be
allowed
to
work
on
Street
Dancer
3D
instead,
because
he
was
in
a
'crisis'
and
needed
a
'heroine'.
For
those
unversed,
Street
Dancer
3D
was
orginally
announced
with
Varun
Dhawan
and
Katrina
Kaif
in
leading
roles.
Gupte
revealed
that
Bhushan
Kumar
brought
in
Parineeti
for
him.
"And
he
brought
Parineeti
in
for
me.
It
was
all
happy
happy.
Parineeti
happy,
Shraddha
happy,
Bhushan
Kumar
happy,
and
I
am
also
very
happy.
At
least
the
film
wasn't
shut
down.
The
film
is
like
my
child,
nothing
should
happen
to
the
child;
it
just
took
five
years
to
arrive.
We
are
happy
parents," the
Stanley
Ka
Dabba
director
told
Bollywood
Hungama.
Parineeti
Chopra
starrer
Saina
is
slated
to
release
in
theatres
on
March
26,
2021.