Casting director Mukesh Chhabra is a popular name in Bollywood, having worked on blockbuster films like Dangal, PK, and now Shah Rukh Khan’s Jawan and Dunki. In a recent interview, he said that after he read Jawan’s script, he realized that the film would be a mega success at the box office. He also revealed which was the toughest role to cast and how long it took to finalize the actors.
In an interview with The Indian Express, Mukesh was asked which was the toughest casting for the Atlee directorial Jawan. He said, “The three new girls! There had to be a fresh approach, a lot of thought went into it. Like for example, Ashlesha Thakur, who plays Vijay Sethupathi’s daughter and is in the metro sequence.”
Talking about Ashlesha’s role, Mukesh said that it was intentional that The Family Man’s actress was cast in the same film as Priyamani, who plays her mother in the web series. “I don’t know how many people will get it. By now, of course, Ashlesha has aged and we thought this pairing of her and Priyamani people have seen, so let’s play with it! A lot of thinking goes into it, which is why there is a lot of handwork, irrespective of whether people notice the nuggets or not. I go mad about casting, I love every little detail of it,” he added.
Mukesh revealed that it took him more than a year to cast the 165 actors featured in the film. Talking about the film’s interesting ensemble cast, he said, “I thought let’s mix the casting with slightly known faces and add some new ones. Out of the six girls, Priyamani is known in Bollywood as well as South, Girija Oak is known in Marathi and Hindi cinema, Sanya Malhotra is a popular Bollywood actor, and then I found three new girls in Sanjeeta Bhattacharya, Lehar Khan, Aaliyah Qureishi. There also had to be a surprise element, which was Sunil Grover. People have seen him do only funny characters, but him turning a villain and beating Nayanthara.”
Mukesh was also the casting director for Shah Rukh Khan’s next film, Dunki, which will release in December this year. He said that the film will also feature a huge cast and like Jawan, has many surprises in store for the audience. The film is directed by Rajkumar Hirani and is headlined by Shah Rukh Khan and Taapsee Pannu.
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