The film ‘Gangubai Kathiawadi,’ starring Alia Bhatt, which was directed by Sanjay Leela Bhansali, was released in 2022 and was highly appreciated by audiences. Alia Bhatt’s acting received immense praise. It is now known that Alia Bhatt was not the first choice for the role.
There were reports that the producers wanted to cast Rani Mukerji for the role before Alia Bhatt. Aditya Narayan, who was an assistant director for Bhansali, confirmed the reports, revealing that Rani Mukerji was the first choice for ‘Gangubai Kathiawadi.’ He revealed this during a television event.
Aditya Narayan recounted that after the failure of ‘Shaapit,’ he found himself without work, which led him to seek an opportunity to work with Sanjay Leela Bhansali. He shared that he was drawn to filmmaking because of his early interest in music and music videos. He also stated that Sonu Nigam, who is also a judge on X Factor India, suggested he consider working with Bhansali.
He added, “It seemed like a great idea. When I expressed my desire, they smiled because they thought I would give up in five days. To avoid hurting my feelings, they asked me to come to their office. Although in the first week, they didn’t give me any work because they were sure I would give up soon. After a week, they slowly started giving me work.”
He also said, “At that time, they had two scripts. One was ‘Ram-Leela,’ and the other was ‘Gangubai Kathiawadi.’ I think at that time, he was considering making ‘Gangubai Kathiawadi’ with Rani Mukerji in the lead role. He gave us both scripts and asked which one was better. I also liked Ram-Leela more.” However, things didn’t work out with Rani Mukerji, and the makers decided to cast Alia Bhatt.