New Delhi: Dharma productions’ Kapoor & Sons was a highly successful movie in terms of both garnering lauds from critics and raking mullahs. The stellar star cast of the film including Rishi Kapoor, Sidharth Malhotra, Alia Bhatt, Fawad Khan, Ratna Pathak Shah and Rajat Kapoor, gave commendable performances.
Among all of them, Paksistani actor Fawad Khan’s portrayal of the elder son of the dysfunctional family stood out. It was surprising to see the actor who gets women weak on their knees play a homosexual character.
While everyone was in awe of his strong performance, little did one know that Fawad Khan was not the first choice for the movie. The role of Rahul Kapoor was first offered to 5 other actors of Bollywood.
The five actors are Saif Ali Khan, Hrithik Roshan, Farhan Akhtar, Shahid Kapoor and Aditya Roy Kapoor. Popular film critic Rajeev Masand wrote in a leading daily,
“As many as half a dozen actors are believed to have turned down the role of the elder brother in Shakun Batra’s recent hit Kapoor & Sons, before the makers approached Fawad Khan. Saif Ali Khan, Hrithik Roshan, Farhan Akhtar, Shahid Kapoor and Aditya Roy Kapoor were all approached. While some explicitly admitted that they didn’t want to play a character that happens to be gay, others reportedly cited different excuses.”
Rajeev also sighted that Farhan was the only one who gave declined in the most professional way.
“Farhan, whom Shakun had assisted previously, said he loved the film but didn’t see himself playing the older sibling. Of the lot, the makers say he was the most professional and upfront about his reservations.”
So what was Fawad’s reaction when he was offered the role? To this Rajeev wrote,
“When they approached Fawad with the part, the actor agreed almost immediately after reading the script. Refreshingly, he had no inhibitions about the character’s sexuality, and much later when there was talk that the studio wanted to keep that detail out of the film for its Pakistan release, Fawad insisted that they not develop cold feet at the last minute.”
Well, that’s Bollywood for you folks. Somebody’s loss is someone else’s gain. We are sure the fans don’t regret having Fawad in the movie as the role seemed tailored for him
