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Actor and filmmaker Farhan Akhtar recently opened up about the casting process for his directorial debut Dil Chahta Hai and the grace shown by Akshaye Khanna during the film’s production. In a conversation with Faye D’Souza on her YouTube channel, Farhan revealed that he initially approached Akshaye Khanna for the role of Akash Malhotra, the character eventually played by Aamir Khan. However, when Aamir came on board, he expressed a desire to play Akash instead of the more serious character of Sid. Following Aamir’s demand, Akshaye graciously stepped aside and took on the role of Sid, solely for the interest of the film.
Recalling the situation, Farhan said, “I have experienced true grace from Akshaye Khanna. When I met him for Dil Chahta Hai, I had offered him the role of Akash, which Aamir ended up doing.” He further explained, “When I approached Akshaye at that point, I wanted to cast two other younger actors, so I went to Hrithik Roshan and Abhishek Bachchan, who were just one film old at that time. But they had other plans, and that didn’t happen, so I had to go for the slightly older generation of actors for Dil Chahta Hai. After dar dar ki thokrein khake, I showed the script to Aamir. He told me that since he had done a couple of serious roles, he wanted to play the role of Akash.”
Farhan admitted he was nervous about informing Akshaye of Aamir’s request to play Akash, but he was pleasantly surprised by Akshaye’s response. “Akshaye calmly told me that he loved the film and knew it had to be made. He said, ‘I will play that part.’ It’s rare to come across actors who let go of roles so gracefully,” Farhan said.
Farhan also recounted a similar experience with Hrithik Roshan, with whom he worked in Lakshya. When Farhan was writing Don, he initially considered Hrithik for the lead role. However, as the script developed, he realized that only Shah Rukh Khan could bring the character to life. When he informed Hrithik of his decision, the actor responded with equal humility. “Hrithik did exactly the same thing as Akshaye. He told me to go forward with it as I had to make my film. I just found that amazing,” Farhan shared.
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