Hrithik Roshan was the perfect choice to play Amitabh Bachchan’s role in ‘Satte Pe Satta’ remake: Raj N Sippy | Hindi Movie News

While there is still some uncertainty about the remake of Amitabh Bachchan-starrer cult film ‘Satte Pe Satta’, Raj N Sippy, who had directed the original film, feels that Hrithik Roshan is the best bet for the lead role. While the ‘War’ actor has reportedly already turned down the offer because he doesn’t want to reprise another Amitabh role after ‘Agneepath’ and would rather focus on his father’s next, the filmmaker cannot think of a better actor for the role.

In an exclusive interview with ETimes, the filmmaker says, “I thought Hrithik Roshan was the best bet, taking into consideration the character of Babu.” Interestingly, the script of the film, which was adapted from the 1954 Hollywood film ‘Seven Brides For Seven Brothers’ had no character like Babu and it was the Sippy brothers who introduced one. “We felt there was no plot, so, we made a lot of changes while making the film,” he recalls.

Ask him if he has a female lead in mind too to play Hema Malini’s character of a nurse in the film, given that names of Deepika Padukone and Katrina Kaif have been coming up for the same, and the filmmaker clarifies, “I really cannot say anything; I have given away the rights of the film, but the discussion on the remake has been there for quite some time. Sanjay (Dutt) was doing the film when I sold the Hindi remake rights of the film to Ashtavinayak, but then the company got into trouble and they resold the rights to some other production house”.

Crediting the success of the film and the cult status it has achieved today, to the team of the film working on the film, Sippy adds, “I was plain lucky, I had a good team and such brilliant actors who lived like brothers. When you have such a conducive environment, everything falls into place.” Recalling the Srinagar schedule of the film, he relays, “We had a call time of 8 am and Hema ji used to be on the sets on time even though she was pregnant. We had a 19-day schedule, but we finished it in 12 days because of the unit’s cooperation”. When asked if Ranjeeta was the first choice for Seema’s character, Sippy nods in the affirmative. “She was always the first choice; her career was just taking off at the time. I informed Mr Bachchan about her and he had no issues at all”.

Rumours of a ‘Satte Pe Satta’ remake first sparked off in 2019 after Farah Khan announced that she was directing a film, which would be produced by Rohit Shetty. Although she never really confirmed that it was remake of ‘Satte Pe Satta’, trade was abuzz with the whispers that it indeed was a remake of the Amitabh Bachchan-starrer. Apparently, at the time, the makers were working towards buying the rights of the film, first from the Indian rights holder, and later from the producers of ‘Seven Brides for Seven Brothers’.