India, April 18 -- Bollywood actor Nushrratt Bharuccha was part of Ayushmann Khurrana's Dream Girl. However, she was replaced by Ananya Panday in Dream Girl 2. In a recent interview, she expressed feeling hurt on not being cast in the film. In an interview with Times of India, director Raaj Shaandilyaa has now responded to Nushrratt's statement. (Also Read: Nushrratt Bharuccha on casual sexism in film world: If I'm being told this isn't your place, sometimes I have to shut up)

Raaj spoke about why Ayushmann Khurrana, Manjot Singh and Annu Kapoor were retained in Dream Girl 2, and said, "Dream Girl 2 was not a sequel, but a franchise film. If it were a sequel, then Nushrratt would have been cast in the film. Dream Girl's story ended when ...