The Dabangg franchise needs no introduction alright! Salman Khan's portrayal of Chulbul Pandey is much loved by the audiences. However, we were quite surprised to know that the star wasn’t the first choice for the character of a corrupt yet entertaining cop. His actor-brother Arbaaz Khan who has been a producer on the film, revealed an unknown fact that’s totally taken us by surprise. During his recent interview with Mumbai Mirror, he revealed that Salman Khan was not considered for Pandeyji's role intially by director Abhinav Kashyap.
Irrfan Khan and Randeep Hooda were considered for the role. While Arbaaz was willing to portray Chulbul Pandey, the director found him apt for Chulbul's brother's role, Makkhi. He said, "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." Furthermore, the actor revealed how he set the ball rolling for Salman.
He continued, "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.” Now that's how Arbaaz came on board with dual responsibility of producing and acting in the same project, Salman became the Dabangg cop of Bollywood. Currently, the crew is shooting in Phaltan for Dabangg 3, which marks the prequel and will showcase Khan in his college days. Director Prabhudheva will capture his journey from being a local goon to the most celebrated.
Dabangg 3 will have some new additions like Kannada star Sudeep will play the antagonist, Mahesh Manjrekar's daughter Saiee will play Khan's love interest during his college days. Roping in Saiee was Salman's decision shared Arbaaz, as he feels she fit the bill perfectly. Revealing further about Dabangg 3, Arbaaz also discussed about the film's progress so far. He said, "We are only 60% through. Shooting will wrap up by September end leaving us with three months for post-production.”
Dabangg 3 will continue to star Sonakshi Sinha, Mahie Gill besides Salman and Arbaaz of course. The film is set to release on December 20, 2019.
Image Source: Instagram/IrrfanKhan/RandeepHooda/radhe