Salman Khan's Chulbul Pandey Cameo Axed From Singham Again After Baba Siddique's Death? What We Know

Salman Khan’s beloved police officer character Chulbul Pandey from the Dabangg series has been rumoured to be a part of Singham Again. Multiple reports have claimed that Rohit Shetty had roped in the superstar for a cameo in the film. While the cameo would have truly elevated the experience of the cop film, it is now reported that the cameo couldn’t be filmed. A Bollywood Hungama report has claimed that Salman was scheduled to film the cameo last week. However, due to Baba Siddique’s sudden death, Rohit Shetty did not feel right to call him on set to film the scene.

The source told the publication that Rohit felt it would be insensitive to call a mourning Salman to film for the scene, even though it was a one-day scheduled shot. To make things difficult, Rohit and the team had to submit the film for certification to the Censor Board by Friday, October 18. With a limited window to shoot the cameo, Rohit decided to drop it this time around.

“The one-day shoot was scheduled to take place at Golden Tobacco in Mumbai, however, owing to the sudden demise of Baba Siddiqui, the shoot was canceled. Rohit and Ajay then had discussions internally and felt that it would be insensitive to request Salman Khan to shoot amid all the controversy. The duo was racing against time to submit their film to the censors, and have decided to submit the film without the appearance of Salman Khan,” the insider said.

“Shooting with Salman, just a day or two after the death of Baba Siddiqui was insensitive. And Rohit had to submit Singham Again to the censors by Friday – October 18. That’s when they took the tough call to move on and respect the privacy of Salman Khan,” the source added.

Although Salman’s cameo might not be able to make it into the film, the report states that there are chances his back shot in the uniform might make the cut in the post-credits scene.

Baba Siddique was murdered on October 12. He was shot on his way out of his son’s office in Bandra East. A member of the Lawrence Bishnoi gang took responsibility of Siddique’s death and issued a warning to Salman Khan. Despite the threats, Salman not only rushed to the hospital to check on Siddique’s family after his death but also participated in the funeral rituals before Siddique was buried. On the recent episode of Bigg Boss 18, Salman admitted that he wasn’t in the state of mind to film the episode due to the recent turn of events.

Meanwhile, Singham Again is set to release this Diwali. The film stars Ajay Devgn in the lead while Kareena Kapoor plays the role of his wife. The film features Arjun Kapoor as the villain who abducts Kareena and sparks a Ramayan-like battle. Ajay takes help from Deepika Padukone, Ranveer Singh, Tiger Shroff, Akshay Kumar and others to rescue Kareena. The film is slated to release on Diwali this year.