Keerthy Suresh's first Bollywood debacle because of weight issues

Southern actress Priyamani stepped in to replace Mahanati actress Keerthy Suresh in Ajay Devgn's much anticipated Maidaan.

Amit Ravindernath Sharma of Badhaai Ho! fame is directing the movie. Ajay will essay the role of Syed Abdul Rahim who served as coach and manager of Indian football team between 1950 till his death in 1963.

Earlier, Mahanati actress Keerthy Sureesh was on board to play a mother's character. Latest buzz is that she was dropped from the film as the makers felt that she looked "too young" for the role.

A statement from the makers reads, "Keerthy shot for the film for a day. After the shoot the makers and Keerthy both felt that she looked too young as she had lost a lot of weight since being signed for the film to authentically portray the role of a mother as has been written in the script."

Keerthy too, we hear was a sport as she agreed with the filmmaker's sentiment to stay true to the story. Now, we hear southern siren

Priyamani has been roped in to play the part.

The 35-year-old actress was last seen in Amazon original The Family Man opposite Manoj Bajpai. She is also playing the role of Sasikala in the J Jayalalithaa biopic Thalaivi.

Maidaan is bankrolled by Zee Studios, Boney Kapoor, Akash Chawla and Arunava Joy Sengupta. Saiwyn Quadros and Ritesh Shah have penned the screenplay and dialogues, respectively.

Sports drama Maidaan is slated for release on November 27.