Nawazuddin Siddiqui‘s uncanny similarity and nuanced execution as Shiv Sena supremo Bal Thackeray in the film Thackeray is procuring him acclaims. However as uncovered to Mid-day by the movie’s casting chief Rohan Mapuskar, Siddiqui wasn’t the first decision for the job. Mapuskar admitted that it was Irrfan Khan who was first considered to depict Bal Thackeray.
“Executive Abhijit Panse, Sanjay Raut and I were conceptualizing on who we’d like to cast and were thinking about [roping in] Irrfan. We had [superimposed] his picture to check whether it coordinated that of Mr Thackeray, and were persuaded,” said Mapuskar to Mid-day. Be that as it may, they needed to choose another name, considering the performing artist’s inaccessibility who was occupied with another film and could take up the job simply following a few months.
Sanjay Raut, who has composed and created Thackeray, was instrumental in bring Siddiqui ready. Following dialogs, the group felt that Siddiqui would be a decent decision for a job when contrasted with Irrfan. “Focusing in on him was a consensual choice,” said Mapuskar.
He further expressed that determination of Amrita Rao for Meentai Thackeray was not the ‘primary decision’ either. The producers at first needed to cast Rasika Duggal. Given the last had officially highlighted with Siddiqui in Manto, Mapuskar needed a crisp, and significant on-screen character to play spouse to his hero.
