Back in January this year, Dinesh Vijan’s production house Maddock Films gave fans the perfect beginning to a New Year with the announcement of their horror comedy roster. From the list, Ayushmann Khurrana and Rashmika Mandanna’s film Thamma arrived in theatres in 2025, just as planned. But Shakti Shalini was pushed to 2026. The official announcement of Shakti Shalini was attached to Thamma, where Saiyaara star Aneet Padda was introduced as the lead. This came as a shock to netizens, because after Maddock Horror Comedy Universe dropped its roster, for the longest time rumours suggested that Kiara Advani was the first choice for this film. Soon reports claimed that Aneet had replaced Kiara, who is on a maternity leave after welcoming her daughter this year. But was Kiara ever considered for the film?
Director of Stree, Stree 2, Bhediya and the co-creator of the Maddock Horror Comedy Universe, Amar Kaushik has now revealed the truth. The filmmaker shared that Aneet Padda did not replace Kiara Advani, because the latter was never locked for Shakti Shalini. In a chat with Filmygyan, Amar stated, “Kiara is a beautiful actor. Matlab, aisa kuchh kabhi confirm koi cheez hui nahi thi. Pata nahi kisne, yeh bahar aayi thi, kya tha. Aisa nahi hai. Main humesha se Kiara ke saath kaam karna chahta hun. Jab kahani aap likh rahe hot ho, pehele ek idea hota hai. Fir aap jab kahani likh rahe hote ho toh fir aap dekhte ho kaun kar… character ke liye kaun jaata hai, kaun nahi jaata hai, kya hota hai. Saiyaara aayi thi and then hum log tab bhi process mein hi the writing ke.”
When asked if Kiara was ever locked for Shakti Shalini, Amar explained, “Nahi, aisa kabhi, aisa kuchh nahi tha ki yeh koi lock hai. Kabhi bhi locked nahi tha. It was always ki aap soch rahe ho ki kya ho raha hai, kaun hoga. Toh matlab, wohi main bol raha hun ki kabhi kabhi sochta hun ki humko kuchh cheezein pata nahi hoti, bahar kisko kya pata hoti hai, wahan se koi ek aadmi leak karta hai.”
Fresh off the success of her debut film Saiyaara, co-starring Ahaan Panday, Aneet Padda bagged Shakti Shalini. We wish the young actor all the best for an exciting 2026!
