Aayush Sharma ‘didn’t want Salman Khan’ to do Antim due to nepotism debate, asked Arpita Khan to sway him to step down

Aayush Sharma confessed that he was apprehensive about Salman Khan featuring in Antim: The Final Truth initially. Aayush, who is Salman’s brother-in-law, was afraid that his inclusion would ignite another nepotism debate. 

Antim: The Final Truth is directed by Mahesh Manjrekar. While Aayush Sharma plays a gangster, Salman Khan will be seen as a police officer in the film. 

Speaking with News18, Aayush said, “(At) the beginning of the process of making this film, I was anxious about the fact that he is in the film. There are going to be multiple notions about it including the fact that we are a family, he is making this film to help me in my career and also to spark another conversation on nepotism. Initially, I was against the idea of Salman bhai being a part of Antim. I didn’t want him to do the film and I told him that. In fact, I went to all the people in the family to convince him not to do it. It was also because I was doing something completely different from LoveYatri and also the other thing was with his presence, whether I’d be able to do justice to the film and match up to his hysteria.” 

However, Salman was sure he wants to be a part of the film. “(Salman) told me, ‘Aayush you need to figure out how you do justice to your character and which is all that matters. You need to convince people why you raised your hand on me in the film.’ It was a huge challenge and I was quite apprehensive about his presence. I remember when we announced the film, there was a bit of trolling for me saying, ‘We don’t want Aayush in the film.’ When I told him, he said there are hardly 5000 tweets and if they don’t see the film, it won’t matter,” Aayush said. 

Aayush also added that he asked his wife, Salman Khan’s sister Arpita, to convince the Dabangg star to step down. But Salman was keen on doing the film.

Also read: Aayush Sharma says he thought ‘my wife is watching, my kids are watching’ while filming intimate scenes in Antim song

Meanwhile, in a recent featurette about the making of the film, Salman said that he was shocked to see Aayush’s transformation: “I was shocked. There’s been a huge transformation from Loveyatri to Antim. He has worked so hard in the film. His work will be appreciated.”

Antim: The Final Truth marks Aayush and Salman’s first film together and is set to release on November 26.