Here’s why ‘Sultan’ director opted for Anushka Sharma and not Parineeti Chopra

Anushka Sharma will be seen playing the female lead in Salman Khan starrer ‘Sultan’. Recently, in an interview with a leading daily, director Ali Abbas Zafar revealed that while the makers were planning to rope in Parineeti Chopra for the film, he wanted Anushka in it.

Ali said, “The girl’s part in this film, it was imperative to get that right. For the longest time we wanted a new girl, I want to be very honest about that. We auditioned a lot of girls and we didn’t find the girl that we wanted for that character. Then we started toying with the idea of casting one of the current actresses who could pull off this character. We were looking for a new face because there is a very solid part of romance between Salman and the girl in the film, and I’ve always believed that a fresh pairing always works best for romance. When that didn’t work out, we started looking at actresses who have not worked with Salman. On top of that, a girl also had to physically look a certain way because she is an athlete, and she had to be a good actress who could match the standard of Salman Khan. And if she was a star it’s even better. That is how after almost spending two-three months time figuring out who we want, we found Anushka.”

“I thought if I have to introduce a girl with my hero, how different can she be from any other heroine in a Salman Khan film? The idea was to create a character, who is as equal as the protagonist, so that even he feels that she is an equal to him. And because it is a sports film, we gave the same sport to the character, which gives an edge to the character. The way she has pulled through… In the film, when she fights international tournaments, she is very good. Wrestling is a sport of strength, but it’s also a sport of technique. You have to use your mind and you have to use the right technique and Anushka nailed that,” the director added.

“All I will say is, when we were boiling down to things, there was a talk of Parineeti, because she had a body type. But I wanted Anushka because I just felt that. At the end of the day, as a director you can only go by your gut and instinct. And I went with that,” he concluded.

‘Sultan’ which is produced by Aditya Chopra releases on Eid this year.

Also Read: Rahat Fateh Ali Khan: Not aware if anyone had sung ‘Sultan’ song before

Murtuza Iqbal

‘Eat Sleep Bollywood Repeat’ is his life Mantra. Dance is his first love and Rani Mukerji is his eternal crush. He is someone who loves being himself, and as for the ones who don’t agree, his reply? “Talk to my hand!”