Not Jaideep Ahlawat, But Irrfan Khan Was The First Choice For Maharaj

Siddharth revealed that the only person they could think of to play the powerful and villainous Maharaj was the late Irrfan. “The only person we could think of for that role was Irrfan Khan. There was nobody else who could play this role but Irrfan Khan," he said.

However, they realised Jaideep could also pull off the role once they thought of him after Irrfan's demise in 2020. He said, “I kept telling Jaideep sir there’s only once actor in the entire universe who can do this, and that’s him. He can do anything, he’s one of the best actors we have, undoubtedly. It took us time to convince him to do this, it was a lot of pressure on him. He’s rightfully getting all the love he gets for every film.”

At the press meet, Siddharth also revealed that after the shooting wrapped up, he realised Jaideep’s introductory scene needed to be re-shot. It had been five months since they had wrapped and the actor had gained weight. He told him, “I told him, don't worry Jaideep sir, I have seen lots of things which happen in VFX, usme abs daal denge, ho jayega. (We’ll add abs with VFX)”