Speculations around Rana Daggubati replacing veteran actor Nana Patekar in Housefull 4 were rife for quite some time now. Nana had quit the film following allegations of sexual harassment levelled against him by Bollywood actress Tanushree Dutta. Now, Rana himself has confirmed the news during a conversation with Mumbai Mirror. The Baahubali actor was said to be the production house’s choice to play Nana’s role in the movie.
According to the daily, Rana Daggubati had been given a narration of the script last week and had green-signalled the project on Monday. In a statement to the publication, he said, “It is always good to find work outside of Hyderabad, get to learn so much and do so many new things. I’ve never been part of a genre like Housefull and it’s always exciting to work with different genres." He added that he was looking forward to working with Akshay Kumar after Neeraj Pandey’s 2015 action-spy thriller Baby.
Rana will reportedly play a ghazal singer in the film and the parts that Nana had shot in Jaisalmer will be re-filmed with Rana in Mumbai. The actor is scheduled to join the cast of the film, comprising Akshay Kumar, Riteish Deshmukh, Bobby Deol, Kriti Sanon, Kriti Kharbanda, Pooja Hegde, Chunky Pandey and Johnny Lever this week in Mumbai.
The film is being currently shot in Mumbai and Rana is expected to join the star cast soon. Housefull 4 also stars Riteish Deshmukh, Bobby Deol, Kriti Sanon, Kriti Kharbanda and Pooja Hegde.
Directed by Farhad Samji, the film is expected to hit the screens in 2019.
