Sai Pallavi almost lost Ramayana to Alia Bhatt's PR game? Here's what Reddit says

Sai Pallavi is playing the role of Sita in the upcoming Nitesh Tiwari-helmed movie Ramayana which will be made in two parts. But before making her name official there were strong rumours that Alia Bhatt will be playing Sita as Ranbir Kapoor was already finalised for the role of Lord Ram. After a lot of twists and turns finally it was Sai Pallavi who was confirmed as Sita with rumours saying that Alia stepped back from the movie because of a date issue.

Did Alia Bhatt’s PR spread a false narrative about her being in Ramayana?

A leading Bollywood journalist first reported that Sai Pallavi had been finalised as Sita for Ramayana. However, within two hours, the narrative was changed, and her name was replaced by Alia Bhatt. According to a Reddit user, Alia Bhatt lobbied hard for the role of Sita as it is a big-budget film that will star some renowned names like Yash and Sunny Deol in meaty roles.

Paps call Alia ‘Sita Maa’
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The PR campaign was so aggressive that even the paps started calling her Sita on arrival at the airport or at an event. Rumours were spread that since Sai Pallavi has no interest in working in Bollywood or even that she might be retiring soon, Alia Bhatt was considered the frontrunner for the role of Sita.

Any insiders got the tea on why Alia Bhatt backed out of Ramayana? It’s rare for a mega-budget film to offer such a strong female role. Surprising she’d trade that for YRF’s Alpha, whose lifetime collection might not even match Ramayana’s opening weekend
byu/MiserableMidnight6 inBollyBlindsNGossip

Nitesh Tiwari’s Bawaal changed everything

Until then Nitesh Tiwari was considered one of the most dynamic directors who has delivered some big hits like Dangal and good movies like Bhoothnath Returns, Chillar Party, and Chhichhore. And that is why Alia Bhatt was so keen on doing Sita in Ramayana.

Swift decisions were made behind closed doors in the span of 2 hours ( Kindly refrain from discussing casting in this post)
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However, Bawaal which was released around the time when the casting for Ramayana was underway triggered a huge controversy. This Varun Dhawan-led film was accused of trivializing the million murders that took place during the Holocaust representing the incident with flippant dialogues. This was a major setback for Bawaal which also affected its box-office performance.

According to Reddit since Bawaal not only failed to attract an audience but also triggered controversy Alia Bhatt decided to step back from the project. And that is how finally the role went to Sai Pallavi . All these are speculations by Reddit users and may not be true at all. However, fans of South Indian actresses are happy that they will get to see Sai play a big role in her Bollywood debut project.