Sandeep Reddy Vanga’s Kabir Singh released back in 2019 turned into a massive success at the box office. Despite receiving mixed reviews from the audience, the film turned out to be one of the biggest releases of that year. Featuring Shahid Kapoor and Kiara Advani in the lead, the film follows the story of the medical student Kabir who fell in love with Preeti but things turned upside down after her parents married her off to some other person. 

In a recent interview, Sandeep went on to reveal that Kiara wasn't the first choice for the role of Preeti. Parineeti Chopra, who was supposed to work with him in Animal, was his first preference. However, since things didn't align, Kiara was roped in. 

He said, “Main kabhi audition main believe nahi karta. I go with my instinct only. That I know. From day one I have liked her acting and I always wanted to cast her as Preeti also in Kabir Singh but hua nahi uss time. That’s long due. I always wanted to work with her. I told her and she also knows that.”

In the same interview, Sandeep also shared that Parineeti was initially signed for the role of Geetanjali in his latest film Animal but was later replaced by Rashmika Mandanna as he felt she wasn’t fit for the role. 

Directed by Sandeep, Kabir Singh released on June 21, 2019, and also featured Kunal Thakur, Nikita Dutta and Soham Majumdar.