KUALA LUMPUR, March 23 — Director Syamsul Yusof has finally revealed the reasons why actor Aaron Aziz was dropped from his latest action film, The Original Gangster.

mStar reported that the 38-year-old director said the decision to drop Aaron from the film was mainly due to his age and health condition.

Syamsul added that the decision was made not just by himself but collectively by him, the production crew, producers as well as cast members.

"I am the last person who wants to drop Aaron’s name from the film because my producers told me that Aaron wasn’t the right fit, he’s old and he has gained weight.

"But I told them no, we have to give him time. He can lose weight. But besides that, he also has a slipped disc condition,” he said.

Syamsul had also delayed the shooting of the film just to give Aaron some time for him to get back into shape however the KL Gangster director said Aaron failed to do so.

He added that he had no other choice but to drop the Singaporean-born actor as he did not want Aaron to risk any injuries on set.

"The main reason why Aaron was dropped is because I’m afraid that some of the action scenes might affect his health and later I would be the one who gets the blame.

"The second reason, actors Sharnaaz and Beto Kusyairi, my producers, my choreography team, all of them told me that they’re not confident with Aaron because of his condition.

"We have had training sessions before the shooting and everyone came to me to tell me that Aaron is facing some difficulties while training,” he said.

Syamsul also revealed that he had received a negative reaction from Aaron after he broke the news to him and claimed that the actor had put the blame on him.

"I called him and apologised before telling him the whole thing. Because I’m the last person who wants him out due to those factors.

"He suddenly started venting at me. I’ve explained to him that I had to make the decision and I don’t mind if that’s how he perceives me now,” he said.

Previously on March 13, Aaron confirmed that his name had been dropped from the list of cast for The Original Gangster film.

Aaron however didn’t specify the reasons why he was dropped.

Besides Aaron, actor Hairul Azreen’s name also was scrapped from the casting list after he had to pull himself out from filming after suffering a knee injury while shooting the film.

The actor confirmed the news via an Instagram post back in February.

The Original Gangster is produced by Syamsul’s production house Syamsul Yusof Films in collaboration with Razor Edge Picture.

The film boasts a stellar cast including big names such as Datuk Adi Putra, Datuk Rosyam Nor, Beto Kusyairy, Sharnaaz Ahmad, Nas-T, Soffi Jikan, Shaheizy Sam as well as Indonesian star Yayan Ruhian.