Not Dhanush, THIS Bollywood star was first choice for ‘Raanjhanaa’

Aanand L Rai, who directed the critically acclaimed Bollywood movie “Raanjhanaa”, has revealed that South star Dhanush was not his first choice for the movie.

While speaking to an Indian media outlet, the movie’s director revealed that he had Bollywood star Ranbir Kapoor in his mind to play the lead role in the film.

Recalling the time when his movie “Tanu Weds Manu” became a hit, Aanand L Rai said that he began working on ‘Raanjhanaa’ at that time.

“If I had more faith in myself, I would have made Tanu Weds Manu 2. But I and Himanshu (Sharma) felt that a story like Raanjhanaa needed to be told,” the filmmaker added.

According to Rai, they were searching for “an actor who keeps himself simple and lets himself blend into the crowd, which is a difficult thing, I believe, is Ranbir Kapoor, but he was not available at that time and as we were searching for such an actor, we found Dhanush”.

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However, he credited Dhanush for giving one of his best performances in the movie, saying that the film was destined for the fate of the South star.

‘Raanjhanaa’ also starred Bollywood actress Sonam Kapoor, Abhay Deol, Swara Bhasker, and Mohammed Zeeshan Ayyub in key roles.

The film, with music from AR Rahman, was a big commercial success and had classic songs such as “Tum Tak”, “Piya Milenge”, “Tu Mun Shudi”, “Banarasiya” and “Nazar Laaye”.

Following ‘Raanjhanaa’, Aanand L Rai reunited with Dhanush in 2021’s “Atrangi Re” co-starring Sara Ali Khan and Akshay Kumar.