- Ranveer Singh remains linked to the planned Shaktimaan movie.
- The original star says Singh has the talent, but not the right image.
- He claims he rejected a check worth crores.
- He says Ranveer could play Shaktimaan’s villain instead.
- The dispute pits Bollywood reinvention against childhood nostalgia.
Ranveer Singh may be one of Bollywood’s biggest stars, but getting the Shaktimaan cape could come down to something money cannot buy: the approval of the character’s original star.
The planned big-screen adaptation of India’s iconic 1990s superhero has become the subject of a heated casting and creative dispute. Sony is reportedly keen to turn Shaktimaan into a major theatrical production with Singh, but Mukesh Khanna, who played the superhero on television, says he has resisted the proposal — even at the cost of a payment worth crores.
For international audiences unfamiliar with the character, Shaktimaan was essentially India's homegrown answer to the superhero phenomenon: a television hero who became a defining part of childhood for an entire generation.
Why Ranveer Singh isn’t getting the cape
Khanna has made a sharp distinction between Singh's acting ability and his suitability for Shaktimaan.
“Ranveer Singh can play Dhurandhar, Gully Boy, Khilji but not Shaktimaan,” said Mukesh Khanna to those who tried convincing him to let the star be the face of India’s superhero. “For that, we need the right image and face, something he doesn’t have. He has a mischievous face, a scheming face. Shaktimaan has to be very positive, very positive. So you’re right that I have said something like that about that actor. I never said that he is a bad actor.”
Khanna has previously praised Singh's talent and energy, but says those qualities do not automatically make him right for the superhero.
“When I praised him, people said, ‘Mukesh Khanna praised him, which means he has become Shaktimaan.’ But I said, ‘I never said that. He is a good actor, a big actor, he has energy, he has everything, but I never said that I was giving him the role of Shaktimaan.’”
He’d rather lose crores of rupees than compromise
The financial stakes make Khanna's position even more striking.
“No doubt, commercially, I am behaving like a stupid person. I have held back a cheque worth crores, not lakhs, crores,” he said.
Khanna says he had accepted the first payment but stopped the second after disagreements over how much say he would have in shaping the superhero's portrayal.
“Money does not come before principles,” he said.
His fear is that once the character becomes part of a modern Bollywood blockbuster, the filmmakers could take Shaktimaan in a direction that conflicts with the identity audiences remember.
“I said, ‘Suppose I take the money, and then there is drama over it?’ I haven’t taken it, because my second cheque was about to come, and I stopped it.”
For Khanna, the issue is ultimately about protecting the character.
“I have to preserve Shaktimaan’s legacy,” he said.
Ranveer could be the villain instead
There is an unexpected twist to the casting dispute: Khanna does not appear opposed to Singh being part of the Shaktimaan universe. He just doesn't want him wearing the cape.
Khanna has suggested that Singh could instead play Kilwish, a major antagonist in the Shaktimaan mythology. He pointed to Singh's performance as Alauddin Khilji in Padmaavat as evidence that the actor could convincingly handle a darker role.
Khanna also mentioned Allu Arjun as someone who could potentially fit the positive image he associates with Shaktimaan, although he clarified that he had never formally offered the role to him.
The disagreement reflects a larger challenge facing superhero franchises around the world: How do you modernize a character without losing the qualities that made audiences fall in love with them in the first place?
For American audiences, the closest parallel may be debates over who should inherit an iconic superhero role, except here, the original actor is publicly fighting to protect the character's identity before the new movie even reaches theaters.
And for now, Khanna's message is unmistakable: the cape may be worth more to him than the check.
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