Salman Khan Was OG ‘Dancing Dad’ For Abhishek Bachchan’s ‘Be Happy,’ But Remo D’Souza’s “Put My Foot Down” Statement & Race 4’s Shelving Turned Tables?
A lot happened after Race 3, directed by Remo D'Souza, did not work at the box office. Race 4 and Dancing Dad with Salman Khan went kaput!
Salman Khan & Remo D’Souza Were Supposed To Do Race 4 & Dancing Dad?(Photo Credit –Instagram)
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Abhishek Bachchan and Remo D’Souza are coming together for a film titled ‘Be Happy’ which also stars child actor Inaayat, who has previously worked with Abhishek Bachchan in Ludo. The film has been announced in Prime Video’s announcement slate. However, as soon as the film was announced, people could not help but point out similarities with a shelved Salman Khan project.
Bhaijaan was supposed to star in a film titled Dancing Dad, which was to be helmed by Remo D’Souza. The film was about a nondancer father who goes to turn every stone for his daughter’s dream related to dance. Abhishek’s Be Happy is about a father leaving no stone unturned for his dancer daughter who wants to participate in a reality show.
Salman Khan and Remo were to collaborate on Dancing Dad, but they started with Race 3 first, and Race 4 was also being planned. So, after Race 3, Remo was supposed to make not one but two films with Salman Khan. However, things were reported to go downhill once Race 3 started underperforming.
Indian Express, in one of its 2018 reports, quoted Remo saying, “When Shiraz Ahmed wrote the script, it had the grey role. Race franchise is about grey characters, but we can’t show Salman in grey characters, and other things were also happening because of all that. It just went a little…Story-wise, I agree there were glitches. But I have seen the worst films becoming a hit.”
However, reports further claimed that Salman Khan was not happy with this honest confession. He wanted Remo not to talk about Race 3’s underperformance since it was working well at the box office. Reports also claimed that there were murmurs about Salman ghost-directing the film. During the same speculation, Remo, in another interview with IANS, said, “I learned two very important things after that film. Firstly, never work on a half-baked script; work on the script much harder before you roll the camera. And secondly, I have learned to put my foot down when it’s needed, especially when creative difference happens. One can argue at one level, but not after that. So then, it’s better to put my foot down.”
So, while Salman Khan and Remo D’Souza were speculated to work on Dancing Dad and Race 4, none of the films happened. Much later, it was also rumored that Varun Dhawan might lead Dancing Dad, but that did not happen either. However, fall-out rumors between Salman and Remo were put to rest when he helped the director and his family during Remo’s adverse health. In fact, the Tiger actor made sure that everything was taken care of when Remo suffered a heart attack.
Now, years later, Abhishek Bachchan is collaborating with Remo D’Souza for a film that has almost the same storyline and, despite speculations has been rife that it is indeed Dancing Dad that is being revived. However, there have been reports dismissing the stories as such. However, the resemblance between the storylines of the two films is uncanny. The story might have been changed to suit Abhishek, but the soul of the film seems to be the same.
Hope Abhishek Bachchan and Remo D’Souza make a great team together and bring a perfect blend of dance and emotions on screen.
