Ram Gopal Varma says he offered Company to SRK but then replaced him with Ajay

Actor Ajay Devgn impressed everyone with his performance in Ram Gopal Varma's gangster drama Company. However, in a recent interview with Siddharth Kannan, RGV revealed that he had initially offered the film to Shah Rukh Khan, who was also interested in doing it. But after one meeting with the superstar, RGV changed his mind and cast Ajay instead.

Ram Gopal Varma revealed that for the role of N Mallik, his first choice was Shah Rukh, but he later changed his mind. He said, “My first instinct was to cast Shah Rukh Khan. I went and narrated the story to him, and he was interested. But I somehow felt Shah Rukh has this natural body language, very energetic, he's like a live wire. The idea of Malik's character was that of a subtle guy, laid-back and cold-minded when he's thinking. I thought SRK's natural energy would go against that. To make Shah Rukh still would be an injustice to both him and the film.”

He added, “I think there's a performing actor and then there's an actor. I'm not saying one is better than the other, but it's just a different style of acting. A guy like Shah Rukh should be left to himself. I think directors trying to make him fit into a different kind of character won't work. But Ajay was naturally suited for that role, he's very calm. That's when I decided to cast Ajay instead. I just had one meeting with SRK, and in that itself I realised it wouldn't work, but I didn't tell him.”

RGV further revealed that the same day he came out of Shah Rukh's house after the meeting, he called Ajay and finalised him for the role on the spot. He also shared that Abhishek Bachchan was his first choice for the role of Chandrakant “Chandru” Nagre, but since Abhishek was busy with two to three films at the time, the filmmaker decided to cast a newcomer and ended up choosing Vivek Oberoi for the role.

Helmed by RGV and written by Jaideep Sahni, the gangster drama featured Mohanlal, Ajay Devgn, Vivek Oberoi, Manisha Koirala, Antara Mali, and Seema Biswas. It marked Mohanlal's debut in Hindi cinema and was the second film in RGV's gangster trilogy, following Satya (1998). The film was a commercial success, grossing ₹25.02 crore against a budget of ₹9.5 crore.

RGV is all set to reunite with Manoj Bajpayee for their upcoming horror comedy Police Station Mein Bhoot. Sharing the announcement, he wrote, “We run to the police when scared, but where will the police run to when they get scared? After a deadly encounter killing, a police station becomes a haunted station, making all the cops run in fear to escape the ghosts of the gangsters.” The film's release date and other details about the cast are yet to be announced.

Source: HindustanTimes
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