Nushrratt Bharuccha isn’t sugarcoating it. In a candid new interview, the actor opened up about the emotional blow she faced after being dropped from Dream Girl 2 — a sequel to the 2019 hit where she played the female lead — and replaced by Ananya Panday.

Speaking to Nayandeep Rakshit, Nushrratt admitted that not being brought back while the rest of the cast remained intact stung deeply. “It hurt me even more when I was not part of my own sequel also, when every other actor was the same except the girl, which I felt was… not cool naa, guys? Just not cool. But theek hai, no problem,” she said, keeping it classy despite the disappointment.

Nushrratt shared that she didn’t attempt to contest the decision, knowing the outcome was already sealed. “I can’t fight something I know is not going to change in any way. What do I fight? What am I going to say? ‘Why not me?’ They’ll say, ‘Because we don’t want you.’ That’s the truth of it. It ends there.”

Rather than dwelling on the rejection, she’s choosing to focus on working with collaborators who actually want her on board. “The only thing I can do is not give up on myself. It’s by saying I’ll work with people who want to work with me,” she added.

This isn’t the first time Nushrratt has addressed her exclusion from the franchise. Last year, she told E Times that the decision felt “unfair” and said, “I don’t know; there is no logic, and there is no answer to it… Of course, it hurts. And, of course, it feels unfair. But I get it, it is their decision. Cool, no problem.”

Despite the behind-the-scenes drama, Dream Girl 2 was a box office winner. The 2023 film became Ayushmann Khurrana’s highest-grosser, pulling in over ₹106 crore. In the franchise, Ayushmann plays a man who disguises himself as a woman to make ends meet, leading to comedic chaos and plenty of confusion.