After Jacqueline Fernandez, the actor opts out of a romantic comedy forcing it to be shelved

With Riteish Deshmukh's recent departure from the romantic comedy helmed by Milap Zaveri, it brings the curtains down on the project.

Seven months post Jacqueline Fernandez walking out of the project to be produced by Vashu Bhagnani, John Jenny Janardhan has now been shelved.

Incidentally, the Deshmukhs and the Bhagnanis are closely related, with Jackky's sister Honey tying the knot with Riteish's brother Dheeraj in February. Naturally, the news of Riteish opting out of Bhagnani's production does come as a surprise.

An industry source tells us that a couple of weeks ago, Riteish conveyed his predicament to his director buddy. "Considering that the film has been in the planning for a while and nothing concrete was happening, Riteish thought it better to take up other movies instead of waiting for this.

Besides, after Jacqueline opted out of the film last August, there had been no news of signing another actress in her place either, " says our source.

Incidentally, this would have been Jacqueline's third movie with Riteish after Sujoy Ghosh's Aladin and Milap's Jaane Kahaan Se Aayi Hai. Reportedly, the actress left Milap's movie after the success of Murder 2, leading to talk that she had become too big for her boots.

Writer-director Milap admits, "The film is not happening now." However, when probed further if Riteish's departure ultimately derailed the project, he declined to comment.

The film is not happening now