Shabana Azmi Reveals She Wanted To Remove Jyotika From Dabba Cartel, Told Farhan Akhtar To Cast Someone Else: 'It Was My Mistake'

On Tuesday, the trailer of Dabba Cartel, starring Shabana Azmi, Jyotika, Shalini Pandey, Sai Tamhankar, and Anjali Anand, was unveiled. Produced by Farhan Akhtar's Excel Entertainment and created by Shibani Akhtar, the series had its grand trailer launch event, where Shabana revealed that she initially wanted to remove Jyotika from the series and had even asked her stepson Farhan to cast someone else instead.

Shabana said, "I have a confession to make. There are two actresses in this show that I wanted to remove. One is Jyotika. She doesn't know this but I kept saying ‘yeh nahin usko lo' and I really wanted her out. I even told them (Farhan and Shibani) that kisi aur ko cast karte hain (let's cast someone else)."

While Jyotika laughed at Shabana's confession, the latter expressed her gratitude, adding that she was thankful that Farhan and Shibani did not give in and insisted on keeping her in Dabba Cartel.

Further, Shabana revealed that Shibani told her, 'do whatever you want to but we are not changing the cast.' I am grateful that they didn't listen to me, because it would have robbed me of the chance to work with her. Truly. It was my mistake."

Lastly, when asked about who the other girl was, Shabana said, "She is not here."

Directed by Hitesh Bhatia and written by Vishnu Menon and Bhavna Kher, Dabba Cartel is set to premiere on February 28 on Netflix.

The series also features Sai Tamhankar, Jisshu Sengupta, Lillete Dubey, and Bhupendra Singh Jadawat. Dabba Cartel follows the story of five women who run a tiffin service, but their business unexpectedly thrusts them into a dangerous drug cartel.