Vishal Bharadwaj Let Go Of Top Actress Who Refused To Work With Irrfan: ‘Terrible Things Happened...'
Abhishek Chaubey's Ishqiya transformed the careers of Vidya Balan, Arshad Warsi, and Naseeruddin Shah. Initially, Irrfan Khan, Preity Zinta, and Lara Dutta were considered.
Abhishek Chaubey’s Ishqiya didn’t just make an impact—it changed the careers of Vidya Balan, Arshad Warsi, and Naseeruddin Shah. Shah got a rare romantic role, Vidya’s talent took center stage instead of talk about her weight, and Arshad finally got a hit after Golmaal Returns. But here’s the twist—none of them were the first choices! Before the final cast was decided, actors like Pankaj Tripathi, Irrfan Khan, Preity Zinta, and Lara Dutta were considered.
Arshad is now strongly linked to the role of Babban, but Chaubey had originally thought of Irrfan. Though interested, Irrfan felt his character wasn’t as strong in the final script. Speaking to Mashable India, Chaubey shared, “While I was writing Ishqiya, the film had a completely different casting. Pankaj ji was playing Khalujan (Shah’s role in the film) and Irrfan was playing Babban. At various points Lara Dutta was approached but Preity Zinta had read the earlier draft and had liked it a lot and she was on board."
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Abhishek learned that Preity left the project only after he finalised the script. The same happened with Irrfan. He recalled meeting Irrfan at a hotel in New York, where they discussed the new script. “Irrfan heard the new version of the film and he sensed that this version isn’t in favour of his character. This was the first time I sensed that Irrfan won’t do my film. While wonderful things happened on the script, terrible things happened behind the scenes," he shared.
Irrfan turning down Ishqiya hurt his long-time friendship with Vishal Bhardwaj, who co-wrote the film with Abhishek Chaubey, Gulzar, and others. Vishal admitted he was so upset that he didn’t speak to Irrfan for years. It got worse because Vishal had already let go of a top actress who didn’t want to work with Irrfan. He chose to keep Irrfan, but then Irrfan also backed out. He shared with Lallantop, “We had said no to a big actress for Ishqiya because she had refused to work with Irrfan as he wasn’t a commercial actor. I got very angry with him and didn’t speak to him for 2-3 years. I didn’t pick up his calls."
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