Akshaye Khanna, Sanjay Dutt almost said no to Dhurandhar. read here
Mukesh Chhabra talks about his casting journey with Aditya Dhar’s film Dhurandhar. He revealed that Akshaye Khanna, Sanjay Dutta and Arjun Rampal were initially unsure about being a part of the project.
Casting director Mukesh Chhabra reveals that actors Akshaye Khanna, Sanjay Dutt and Arjun Rampal were initially hesitant to sign on stalwart. He admitted that except R Madhavan, the rest of the actors were unsure about joining the film.
In an interview Chhabra reflected on his casting approach for the Aditya Dhar directed film Hindustan Times He said, “Initially, even Arjun Rampal, Sanjay Dutt and Akshay Khanna were not sure about being a part of the film. Only R Madhavan said yes. For the rest, it took time. Aditya and I were considering so many people, and honestly at first we never thought that we would cast such big stars.”
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The casting director said that while working on Dhurandhar, “a variety of actors” were initially considered. He further added, “We had very different types of actors in mind. Then I pushed him (Aditya Dhar) to think bigger. When you start a film, you wonder how such big actors will come into it. At first there was none of this, but slowly, as we discussed, it started falling into place.”
On the hesitation in casting big actors in the role, Chhabra said, “Madhavan and Arjun were on the sets of the film for only 12 days. Most actors are usually worried about how much screen time they will get. We said impact is what matters here. If you look at Madhavan’s part, with only 12 to 14 days of work, the impact of the role is huge.”
sequel of the film, Dhurandhar: Revenge Has been released in Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam and Kannada. The film also stars actors Ranveer Singh, Sara Arjun, Danish Pandor and Rakesh Bedi in lead roles. It is co-produced by Jio Studios and B62 Studios. The sequel to the spy-thriller stalwartReleased in December 2025.
The espionage thriller was released theatrically on March 19, 2026.