This Hollywood actress was rumoured to star opposite Sushant Singh Rajput but...

In 2013, Sushant Singh Rajput signed a three-film deal with Yash Raj Films, one of the biggest film production and distribution companies in India. His first film was the 2013 romantic comedy Shuddh Desi Romance, which was directed by Maneesh Sharma and also starred Parineeti Chopra and Vaani Kapoor. Sushant's second film with YRF was the period mystery thriller Detective Byomkesh Bakshy! in 2015.

His third film with the proudction house was the science-fiction adventure film Paani, which was going to be directed by Shekhar Kapur of Mr. India and Bandit Queen fame. The movie was eventually shelved due to the creative difference between Kapur and Aditya Chopra, who heads Yash Raj Films. Back then, it was rumoured that an Oscar-winning Hollywood actress has been approached to star opposite Sushant in the ambitious project.

This actress was none other than Jennifer Lawrence, who had gained worldwide fame after playing the protagonist Katniss Everdeen in The Hunger Games film series. She became the second youngest actress to win the Academy Award for Best Actress for the 2012 romantic comedy Silver Linings Playbook.

In January 2014, Bollywood Life carried out a report saying that Jennifer is going to make her Bollywood debut with Paani. An insider was quoted telling the portal, "Paani will be an expensive film. The budget would be close to ₹150 crore. To justify that kind of a money, the film will have to do good business all around the world, and not just in India. Getting someone like Jennifer will ensure the film attracts eyeballs internationally as well."

Within a week, filmmaker Shekhar Kapur dismissed such rumours as he took to Twitter, now X, on January 8, 2014, and wrote, "Jennifer Lawrence has not been approached for Paani. Just clearing out the rumors."

Ultimately, Paani also got shelved and there has been no news of Kapur reviving the film post Sushant Singh Rajput's death in 2020. After the actor's demise, the filmmaker shared the late actor's reaction on the film getting shelved in an Instagram Live session with Manoj Bajpayee. "When the film was shelved and he realised he wasn’t doing the film, he cried a lot. I cried too. I would cry every time he cried because I was also passionately and deeply involved with it", the director had said.

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