Dhurandhar star Ranveer Singh refused to star in ‘Kabir Singh’. Director says: ‘He did not do it because…’

After experiencing a relatively subdued phase in Hindi cinema, Ranveer Singh staged a powerful comeback in 2025 with the espionage-based thriller Dhurandhar. The film emerged as a massive commercial force, rapidly climbing the charts to become the highest-earning Bollywood release of the year. Its box-office run eclipsed the total earnings of several recent blockbusters, including Stree 2, Chhaava, Pathaan, and Pushpa 2. Riding on its sustained theatrical momentum, Dhurandhar is now closing in on the long-standing benchmark set by Shah Rukh Khan’s action spectacle Jawan. This remarkable success has dramatically altered perceptions surrounding Ranveer Singh’s professional trajectory.

The film’s performance has firmly repositioned Ranveer among the most bankable stars of his generation. Once again, he is being discussed as a leading contender in the race for superstardom, often measured against his contemporary and frequent comparator, Ranbir Kapoor. Ranbir’s previous release, Animal, directed by Sandeep Reddy Vanga, also delivered extraordinary box-office figures, further fuelling the long-running debate over the dominance of the two actors. Together, these back-to-back successes have intensified industry discussions about stardom, risk-taking, and audience pull.

Animal, meanwhile, continues to attract attention long after its release, not only for its cultural impact but also for the political and moral debates it sparked. In 2023, in a chat with iDream Media director Sandeep Reddy Vanga disclosed that the film had initially been proposed to Ranveer Singh, who ultimately chose not to take it on. Vanga shared that following the phenomenal success of his debut film Arjun Reddy, he received strong interest from Bollywood to recreate the project in Hindi. Aware of the complexities involved in remaking a film that had already been widely consumed, he still felt compelled to move forward due to the overwhelming demand.


According to Vanga, Ranveer was his first choice for the Hindi adaptation. However, the actor eventually stepped away from the project, feeling that the intense and grim tone of the story did not align with where he was creatively at that point in his career.

"First, it was pitched to Ranveer Singh. I wanted to do it with him. But finally, he decided he will not do it, because it was too dark for him at that time” he said.

After Ranveer exited the film, the role was offered to Shahid Kapoor, whose commercial track record at the time raised doubts among industry observers. Many questioned the decision, pointing out that Shahid had not yet delivered a solo film that crossed the Rs 100 crore mark, with his highest earnings hovering well below that figure.

Despite the skepticism, Vanga remained steadfast in his belief in Shahid’s abilities, valuing performance depth over box-office history. That conviction paid off, as Kabir Singh went on to become Shahid Kapoor’s most commercially successful film to date. In contrast, Ranveer’s later resurgence with Dhurandhar has proven equally defining. According to figures reported by Sacnilk, the film has accumulated an impressive Rs 748 crore at the domestic box office, cementing its status as a landmark success and reaffirming Ranveer Singh’s star power.