Salman Khan’s character in ‘Dabangg’, Chulbul Pandey, has now become one of his most adored roles.
However, did you know that he was not really the first chosen actor for this badass cop role?
In an interview, director Abhinav Kashyap (who directed the first part of the franchise) revealed that it was not Salman Khan but two other actors who were in the topmost running positions for this role.
“When Abhinav narrated the script to me, I asked him why he wasn’t offering me the role of the Robin Hood cop. But more than Chulbul, he saw me as Makkhi, which was an extension of my role in Jaane Tu… Ya Jaane Na. He was looking to cast Randeep Hooda or Irrfan Khan as the lead then but neither of them had been finalised. I offered to produce the film for him and asked him what if we got Salman on board as Pandey ji. He was instantly excited, and things quickly fell in place,” Arbaaz Khan revealed.
Salman Khan will be seen next in Prabhudeva’s Radhe: Your Most Wanted Bhai which is the remake of Korean film, The Outlaws. The film also stars Disha Patani, Jackie Shroff, Randeep Hooda and Gautam Gulati. Radhe was to be released this year that the coronavirus pandemic not struck. Hence the release has been pushed to the next year and will most likely be out on Eid 2021.
As per a report, there were rumours that Radhe was a tribute to Amitabh Bachchan’s film Zanjeer. Clarifying that Prabhudeva stated, “Not in any direct way. But yes, both Inspector Vijay and Inspector Radhe are no-nonsense. They take their duty very seriously and they do not spare criminals.”