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Actor Bakhtiyaar Irani recently made a surprising revelation in an interview. He claimed that he was originally supposed to feature in Sara Ali Khan’s historical biopic, Ae Watan Mere Watan, but was replaced at the last minute by a bigger name. Also read: Ae Watan Mere Watan review: Sara Ali Khan’s dialogue delivery is more painful to watch than India’s freedom struggle
According to Bakhtiyaar, while appearing in Inside The Mind With Rushabh, he had been approached for a role in the film, which is produced by Karan Johar’s Dharmatic Entertainment. He was excited about the opportunity and had even begun preparing for the part. He had even lost eight kgs for the role.
Bakhtiyaar’s loss
He revealed that he was asked to lose weight for the role as he was considered too bulky, following which he followed a strict diet and workout regimen and managed to lose weight.
“The director calls me, it’s (a Karan Johar production). I didn’t know, I thought I was meeting Kanan (Iyer) the director. I met him, he told me that I am very well built, but in the 1940s, people were puny. So I lost 8 kgs in one and a half months and went back to him. He said, ‘Very good, agle (next) week contract signing’. Everything was done. I told my wife and family and my close circle of friends about it, I told about 30 people as I was signing it the next day. I wondered what could go wrong, so I told them. But then it didn’t happen. This is the character that Sara Ali Khan came to (for help),” he said.
Getting replaced
In the interview, he said was supposed to play the role of a “The Parsi guy…” He blames his luck for missing out on the role, but rues that he didn’t get any feedback on the reason behind replacing him.
“Bigger name, (not) a good actor… and I have gone through auditions, proper auditions. Kanan, the director, he loved me. Everything was proper. But I decided not to talk about it… But it was a very big jhatka (shock) for me because (it would have been a big opportunity) for me,” he added.
About the film
It seems the role that Bakhtiyaar is talking about was portrayed by Anand Tiwari, who played Firdaus Engineer in the film. Now, Anand has directed the upcoming Dharma film Bad Newz, starring Vicky Kaushal, Triptii Dimri and Ammy Virk.
In Ae Watan Mere Watan, Sara plays Usha Mehta, a young woman who starts an underground radio station to spread messages during the Quit India movement. The film received mixed reviews from critics and audiences alike, with many praising Emraan for his performance but criticising Sara for not fitting into the role.
