Thackeray: Not Nawazuddin Siddiqui, but THIS actor was the first choice to play Bal Thackeray

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The much-awaited film based on the Shiv Sena founder Balasaheb Thackeray got released today. The film created buzz among fans ever since its announcement. The role of Balasaheb Thackeray has been essayed by Nawazuddin Siddiqui while the role of his wife Mina Thackeray is being played by Amrita Rao. Nawazuddin’s striking resemblance to Thackeray and his Marathi accent was simply an add on for him. He is receiving much praise for his superb performance in the film as well. 

But very few know that before Nawazuddin, the Thackeray makers were considering Irrfan Khan for the role. Recently, casting director Rohan Mapuskar in an interview with Mid-Day revealed that Irrfan was the first choice for the role but didn’t work well. 

"Director Abhijit Panse, Sanjay Raut and I were brainstorming on who we'd like to cast and were contemplating (roping in) Irrfan. We had his image to see if it matched that of Mr Thackeray, and were convinced," said Rohan.

According to the reports, Amrita was also not the first choice for Meena Tai’s role and earlier makers were considering Rasika Dugal.