Sriram Raghavan reveals he initially considered Irrfan Khan and Nawazuddin Siddiqui for 'Badlapur'

Sriram Raghavan directed the action thriller 'Badlapur' starring Varun Dhawan in 2015. The film was a box office hit, and Varun’s performance was widely praised by fans. However, in his latest chat, the director revealed that Varun was not his first choice. He originally had Irrfan Khan and Nawazuddin Siddiqui in mind for the role while writing the script.
How Varun Dhawan landed the lead role
In a candid chat with Pinkvilla, Raghavan spoke about his film career and shared how he cast Varun in Badlapur. The director credited producer Dinesh Vijan for the idea and explained how everything eventually fell into place, leading to the actor taking on the serious lead role.
Director's initial struggles
The director shared that he had the basic plot of 'Badlapur' with him, which he first narrated to Sanjay and his brother, Shridhar Raghavan. However, both of them advised against making the film, warning that the story was too dark and stated, “I was thinking of serious actors like Irrfan Khan. They said, 'Don’t do it'."
Films casting journey
The filmmaker shared that a week later, he narrated his film to producer Dinesh Vijan who encouraged him to go ahead with the film but only if he promised not to water down the story. When Dinesh asked which actor Raghavan had in mind, the director mentioned Saif Ali Khan. However, he believed Saif wouldn’t take on the role, as their previous film Agent Vinod didn’t do well. Otherwise, he would have considered him for the part.
The coincidence
A strange coincidence occurred when, on the same day Sriram was meeting Dinesh, Varun called the producer. This led to the two deciding to meet the actor and narrate the story to him.
“Varun also vibed with that story, then he asked me, ‘Do you think I can do it?’ I told him, ‘If you like it, you can do it.’ So, that’s how it happened immediately. Then Nawaz (Nawazuddin Siddiqui) in my mind even while writing,” stated the filmmaker.