Siddharth Nigam says he was replaced in Azaad by Ajay Devgn's nephew after waiting for a year, found out from poster: ‘They were star kids'

Indian Express

2 days ago

The period drama Azaad launched the careers of two starkids — Ajay Devgn's nephew, Aaman Devgan, and Raveena Tandon's daughter, Rasha Thadani. Recently, actor Siddharth Nigam, who has predominantly worked in television, revealed that he was initially considered for the lead role in Azaad but was eventually replaced by Aaman. He also shared how he was not informed about the change in casting.
Speaking to Instant Bollywood, Siddharth's mother, Vibha Nigam, recalled the process. 'I took him along for the meeting. The entire script was narrated, and we waited for a year. I was happy because the film was good, and Siddharth would have had a strong launch in Bollywood. I really loved the script.'
Vibha shared that even after waiting for a year, they were caught off guard when they came across Azaad's poster featuring Aaman. She said, 'But suddenly, after two years, Siddharth showed me the poster of Azaad and said, 'Mum, this has been released, and these are the people in the film.' Then we saw that the film starred Ajay Devgn's nephew and Rasha. For the first time in my life, I felt bad. When things like this happen, as a mother, it hurts. Then I realised both of them were star kids, and that made all the difference,' she added.
Siddharth admitted that he had pinned his hopes on the project but also acknowledged the nature of the film business. He said, 'There's no one to blame. This is the business industry, so there's no point in asking why they did it — they must have had their own reasons. It's more of a personal realisation and pain. You get your hopes up thinking something might work out. We wait for an entire year, and then we see the teaser. So after watching it, we just thought, 'Oh, okay. Let's move on.''
Azad was a massive flop at the box office. However, Rasha received widespread acclaim for her dance performance in the song 'Uyi Amma.' The film also starred Ajay Devgn and Diana Penty in key roles.