Daniel Craig auditioned for 'Rang De Basanti' before landing 'James Bond'

Bollywood filmmaker Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra has revealed that ‘James Bond’ star Daniel Craig had auditioned for a role in his 2006 film Rang De Basanti, reported Bollywood Hungama.

Mehra, in his just-released autobiography titled The Stranger In The Mirror, made many interesting revelations about the Aamir Khan starter which went on to become a cult classic for South Asian youth – one of them being that Daniel Craig was actually interested in the film before he had to pull out because he got approached for the ultimate role as Bond.

“I remember vividly that one of the people who auditioned for the part of James McKinley, the young jailor who walks Bhagat Singh, Rajguru and Sukhdev to be hanged, was none other than current James Bond, Daniel Craig,” reads Mehra’s book.

“Daniel Craig was my first choice but he requested if we could allow some time as he was also being considered to be the next James Bond. The rest, as they say, is history.”

The rest really became historic for Craig, who went on to star as the elusive Bond in four high-profile James Bond films – his Bond debut in 2006’s Casino Royale, followed by Quantum of Solace, Skyfall, Spectre, and upcoming No Time to Die.

While Mehra’s first choice, Daniel Craig, couldn’t make it, he eventually went on to cast Steven Mackintosh as McKinley.

Rang De Basanti starred Aamir Khan, Siddharth, Kunal Kapoor, Sharman Joshi, Atul Kulkarni, Soha Ali Khan, R. Madhavan among others.