‘Unprofessional’ Shah Rukh loses yet another best pal!

Spicezee Bureau

Mumbai: Shah Rukh Khan is known to go to great lengths for his friends. Then be it film roles or endorsements, the actor has always extended a helping hand to all his loved ones. But now, the superstar seems to be facing a problem of plenty and is finding hard to please one and all. As per the latest buzz, SRK and his close pal, Ritesh Deshmukh, have fallen apart and it’s all owing to the actor’s preference for Arjun Rampal. Sources state that ever since SRK opted for Arjun Rampal in place of Ritesh to play the villain in his home production ‘Ra.1’, the two have not been on talking terms. Even though Ritesh was the original choice for the role, Shah Rukh brought in Arjun to play the same role leaving Ritesh high and dry. Confirming the news, a source said, “Ritesh and not Arjun was the first choice to play a baddie in ‘Ra.1’. Director Anubhav Sinha also wanted Ritesh as the film’s villain as he had worked with the actor in ‘Cash’. Everything was going fine and Ritesh was very excited about the project as his look and remuneration was also decided. But the next thing Ritesh read in the papers was that Arjun’s playing the bad man in ‘Ra.1’.” “Even when Arjun was suffering from a back problem for a brief period and he was not too sure if he would play the role, SRK didn’t ask Ritesh to step in. Ritesh’s sudden ouster was so unprofessional,” adds the source. As for the movie, while Shah Rukh’s character is that of a super-hero, Arjun will be playing his nemesis. The sci-fi film, which went on the floors early this month, has Kareena Kapoor playing the female lead.