Why Sunny Deol wanted to remove Ajay Devgn from a film

Bollywood's He-Man Sunny Deol has had locked horns with actors like Shah Rukh Khan, Aamir Khan and Anil Kapoor. However, the list also includes Ajay Devgn's name with whom Deol doesn't share a good rapport. In fact, Deol once wanted to remove Devgn from a film which went on to become one of the most successful films in the industry.

It so happened that Sunny Deol and Ajay Devgn were supposed to star in director Rajkumar Santoshi's 2002 biopic on Bhagat Singh 'The Legend of Bhagat Singh'. While Deol was chosen to play the role of the freedom fighter Chandra Shekhar Azad, Devgn was signed to play Bhagat Singh in the film.

However, Deol placed a weird non-negotiable demand before Santoshi. He wanted him to cast his brother Bobby Deol in the lead role by replacing Ajay Devgn. Santoshi, for obvious reasons, turned down Deol's proposal and went ahead to make the film with Devgn.

The particular episode created a rift between Deol and Devgn. The dispute further intensified when Deol decided to walk out from the film. He went on to sign director Guddu Dhanoa's 23rd March 1931: Shaheed in which he played the same role of Chandra Shekhar Azad with Bobby Deol playing the titular character of Bhagat Singh.

Deol was so adamant that he insisted the makers release the film on the same day to that of Ajay Devgn starrer. Deol's ego was crushed into pieces when his film bombed at the box office while The Legend Of Bhagat Singh went on to bag two National Awards.

Last year, rumours started doing the rounds of the tinsel town that Deol was going to replace Devgn in Rohit Shetty's upcoming film Singham 3. It was also reported that Deol called Devgn to inform him that he was doing the film before signing it and told him that he won't be using the name Singham anywhere and it will rather be titled as S3.

However, Devgn later rubbished the reports and said that he was the only one doing Singham 3 and director Rohit Shetty was working on the script. Devgn was seen as a fierce police officer in the previous two instalments in the series.

On the work front, Sunny Deol will soon be entertaining the audience with his upcoming film Yamla Pagla Deewana Phir Se which is the third instalment in the series. The movie, which also features brother Bobby Deol and father Dharmendra, is all set to hit the theatres on August 15.