Mukesh Chhabra ADMITS he and Aditya Dhar were initially unsure about casting Sara Arjun opposite Ranveer Singh; says, “She matched the brief exactly”

The casting of Sara Arjun opposite Ranveer Singh in Dhurandhar sparked a lot of discussion after the trailer was released, especially because of the noticeable age difference between the two actors.

 Now, casting director Mukesh Chhabra has shared that he and director Aditya Dhar were not sure about casting Sara for the role at first.

  

Speaking exclusively with  source, Chhabra said the team had always wanted to cast a completely new face for the role instead of someone who was already well-known.

 He explained, "From the start, Aditya and I were clear that we needed a face that looked like she was part of that world. There shouldn’t be any previous connections. A new face is better. If we had cast someone with two previous films, the connection wouldn’t feel right because the boy is meeting her for the first time."  

He continued, "Sara had done some films as a child actor, but as a full-fledged heroine in a Bollywood film, she had never done that before.

 The idea was to cast the character, not think of it as choosing a usual lead."  

Over 1,000 auditions were conducted before shortlisting Sara Arjun  

Chhabra revealed that the team had a long audition process that lasted almost a year before they found the right person. "

We were clear that if we were going into that world, the audience should be surprised about who the girl is. We did more than 1,200 to 1,300 auditions. It was clear that we wanted a new face and we were really looking for a new face."  

He also mentioned that the brief required someone who looked natural in the film's setting and could speak both Hindi and Urdu fluently, while also showing innocence and simplicity on screen. "

My brief was very clear. She should look like she fits there. The language had to be correct. Her Hindi and Urdu both had to be very clear. There had to be innocence and simplicity on her face because Ranveer’s character is drawn to that girl."  

According to Chhabra, the shortlist kept getting smaller from hundreds to just a few people before Sara stood out in a key audition scene. "

We came down to 100, then 50, then 30, then 20, and finally 10. After auditioning the final 10, there were three or four very good actors, but Sara was closest to what we needed. There were two or three others who were also close, but she matched it exactly."  

Makers initially felt she looked too young  

Chhabra admitted that both he and Aditya Dhar were unsure if Sara Arjun looked too young for the role.

 They decided to do another look test before making the final decision. "Initially, we felt she looked a little young. We thought maybe we should do one more look test and change the makeup slightly so she doesn’t appear too young. That doubt was there in the beginning."  

After the additional look test, the team became confident in their casting choice and decided to cast her. "

We did another look test here with a different makeup approach, and then it worked. It is a very tough job."