Vikram's Dhruva Natchathiram: Anu Emmanuel out, Ritu Varma in

Superstar Vikram's Dhruva Natchathiram is one of the most anticipated Tamil movies of the year, directed by hitmaker Gautham Vasudev Menon. The makers have even released the teaser video of the spy thriller months before the theatrical release of the movie. Now, the latest we hear is that the team has made a major change in the casting of the Vikram-starrer.

Watch Dhruva Natchathiram teaser

Earlier, Dhruva Natchathiram team had confirmed that Malayalam actress Anu Emmanuel, who made her debut in Nivin Pauly's realistic movie, Action Hero Biju, will be paired opposite Vikram. The first-look poster of the duo with the caption #itmustbeLOVE, was also released on the official Facebook page of the movie. However, Anu is said to have opted out of the big budget project, paving way for another talented artiste, who has already replaced her.

Anu's tight schedule in other industries is said to be the reason of her opting out of the most ambitious Vikram project, for which Telugu actress Ritu Varma of Pelli Choopulu-fame has now been brought on to romance the versatile star's character in Dhruva Natchathiram. 

Anu has backed out of DQ movie too

It has to be noted that Anu was recently in the news for moving out of young star Dulquer Salmaan and director Amal Neerad's upcoming Malayalam movie, Comrade in America (CIA). The actress had even started the shooting of the film in Kottayam, but was replaced by cinematographer Muraleedharan's daughter, Karthika. When asked about the sudden change in the casting, the team of CIA had then claimed Anu's commitment with other language movies to be the reason for it.

Soon, Anu made the headlines over a controversial statement. Malayalam entertainment magazine published an interview of the actress, titled "Malayalam industry that doesn't respect women." However, she alleged that the statement, said to be her's, published in the June edition of the magazine was fabricated. "Recently 'Star & Style Magazine' released a statement that concluded that I said that Malayalam cinema doesn't respect heroines, which i have never said. Although the cover is nice, the statement isn't," Anu wrote on her Instagram account, while sharing the photo of the magazine's cover page.

Nevertheless, netizens seem to be confused on why she has been backing out of big projects continuously. "Anu Emmanuel is just a fresher. Though she did a cameo appearance in Action Hero Biju, she had bagged many good projects. Initially, she backed out of Dulquer-Amal Neerad project, citing her commitments in other movies. Now, again she is out of Vikram movie. Who will dream of moving out of a Gautham Menon movie, even if she has other films? So, I doubt she was only removed by the makers of these two movies," Gokul Krishna, a netizen writes on social media.