Filmmaker Raaj Shaandilyaa recently opened up about his equation with actress Nushrratt Bharuccha, addressing the long-standing chatter surrounding her absence from Dream Girl 2. The director, while speaking fondly of Nushrratt, referred to her as a “dear friend” and confirmed that he has every intention of collaborating with her again in an upcoming project.
Shaandilyaa revealed that Nushrratt had once directly asked him why she wasn’t offered a role in the sequel to Dream Girl — a film where her performance had earned widespread appreciation. According to him, the decision to cast a different female lead wasn’t personal but purely driven by the script’s demands. “Nushrratt did question me about not being part of the second film, and I gave her the honest answer. The story needed a fresh face, which is why we went with a new actress. There was no room for disappointment from either side,” the filmmaker explained.
He went on to mention that the same casting approach would apply to any future installments. “When we make the third part, there will again be a new actress in the leading role — it won’t be Ananya, it will be someone else,” he shared, making it clear that the franchise prefers to introduce a new leading lady with every film.
Meanwhile, Nushrratt, in a separate interview with journalist Nayandeep Rakshit, had spoken candidly about her feelings over being replaced in the sequel. The actress didn’t hide the fact that the decision had left her emotionally affected. She shared, “What hurt me the most was not being part of the sequel to a film I was originally a part of. Everyone else from the first movie was retained except me. That didn’t feel right, you know? But I accepted it — what else could I do? It’s their decision at the end of the day, and when someone makes up their mind, there’s nothing I can say or do to change it. I couldn’t fight something I had no control over.”
Despite the casting switch, Dream Girl 2 went on to become a box office hit. The comedy-drama, directed by Shaandilyaa and produced by Ekta Kapoor and Shobha Kapoor under the Balaji Motion Pictures banner, continued the quirky and chaotic story of a man who adopts a female identity for survival, which leads to a hilarious web of misunderstandings. The film featured Ayushmann Khurrana in the lead, with Ananya Panday stepping in as the new heroine, alongside a stellar supporting cast including Abhishek Banerjee, Paresh Rawal, Manjot Singh, and Seema Pahwa.
The movie not only resonated with audiences but also achieved commercial success, raking in a solid ₹142.2 crore globally, cementing its place as a worthy successor to the original.
Despite the professional hiccup, Shaandilyaa emphasized that his relationship with Nushrratt remains strong and he looks forward to working with her again on a fresh project. Fans of the duo are already hopeful about this new collaboration, eager to see them recreate the magic on-screen once more.
