Explains producer Vipul Shah, "Suniel had a serious dates problem. He's busy producing Mission Istanbul and the dates of my film were clashing with his.
Being a producer myself now I know how difficult it is to orchestrate a film as big as Mission Istanbul. I'll work with him in my next film. But this time he's required more urgently for his own film."
Suniel also goes with the dates theory but expands on the reason for his opting out. "Earlier the role had a lot of action in it. And that excited me. Now the role is very different."
Interestingly Akshay Kumar would be doing a lot of intricate fight sequences in Singh Is King.
It isn't clear why the role offered to Suniel changed hues
But here's an intelligent guess.
One action hero in one film is enough.