Sanjay Leela Bhansali revealed that the current cast of Heeramandi was not his initial choice. He wanted to cast Mahira Khan and Fawad Khan initially.
Sanjay Leela Bhansali, who is all set for the release Heeramandi: The Diamond Bazaar, recently attended the screening of web series in Los Angeles. During the event, he revealed that Pakistani actors Mahira Khan and Fawad Khan were initially considered for significant roles in the star-studded show.
In a conversation with YouTuber and host Lily Singh, Bhansali revealed that the current cast was not his initial choice. He said, "I had multiple castings in my mind, the idea has been there for 18 years. I thought about Rekha ji and then Kareena Kapoor Khan and Rani Mukerji. It was a film back then. I then also thought about Mahira Khan, the Pakistani actress, and Imran Abbas and Fawad Khan were also in my mind at one point of time. But I ended up with this ensemble cast."
Created by the maverick filmmaker Sanjay Leela Bhansali, the period drama Heeramandi: The Diamond Bazaar is one of the most awaited shows since its announcement. The Netflix series is headlined by Manisha Koirala, Sonakshi Sinha, Aditi Rao Hydari, Richa Chadha, Sanjeeda Sheikh and Sharmin Segal.
Among the other cast members, one actor was initially rejected by the Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam director and was cast two days before the show. He is Adhyayan Suman, who plays Zorawar Ali Khan in the show. His father Shekhar Suman is also a part of Heeramandi and plays Zulfiqar Ahmed.
In a recent interview with News18, Adhyayan recalled the interesting anecdote on how he first failed the audition for the Netflix show as he said, "I got a call from Shruti Mahajan (casting director) to audition for Zorawar’s character. I was celebrating my parents’ marriage anniversary somewhere in the Himalayas. I got the call when I was travelling there. At one o’clock in the afternoon, I was told that Mr Bhansali would be seeing my audition at three. Somehow, I managed to stop the car in the middle of the mountains and make an audition clip sitting in the car."
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