Anil Kapoor opens up on casting Fawad Khan in 'Khoobsurat'

Producer revealed all Bollywood actors turned down the Sonam Kapoor-starrer

Anil Kapoor's 2014 home production Khoobsurat, which had his daughter Sonam Kapoor as the lead, was refused by all Bollywood male stars. The makers had to face a lot of problem, until they found Pakistani actor Fawad Khan.

"We faced a lot of problem while casting the male lead for Khoobsurat. Nobody was ready to do it. All the leading men had refused to do the film. We still kept looking for an apt actor and Rhea (Kapoor) told me about Fawad Khan and showed me some of his work," India Today quoted Anil as saying.

Sonam Kapoor recalls fun moments with Fawad Khan in 'Khoobsurat'

Rhea, Anil's younger daughter, who was also the co-producer of the film, asked Fawad to give an audition and immediately liked him. Anil revealed that as producers, the father-daughter duo believe in making women-centric films.

"As far as our company is concerned, Rhea is doing a good job of making films centred on women and she is doing it intentionally also because she loves it. I have always encouraged it. I think more producers should keep making films that focus on women. And why do it with big stars only? Do it with every good actor," he stated.

PHOTO: THE DELHI CONNOISSEUR

The actor, who has worked on films like Beta, Judaai and Laadla, recalled an experience from the early days of his career when he was advised by industry insiders to not take up films in which the heroine had a "better or equal role".

Women are more than just 'Khoobsurat': Sonam, Fawad

He mentioned, "When I did films like Judaai and few others, a lot of industry people would wonder and get shocked at the same time. they would ask why I was doing films in which the role of a heroine was better than mine or maybe equal. That was the mindset of a few people."

He continued, "But I would always go for films that either had good roles for me or the story was appealing. Like sometimes either Madhuri Dixit-Nene or Sridevi would get the best roles in the films that we acted in together. I did this for longevity."

Anil is currently working on Anees Bazmee's Pagalpanti. He also has Karan Johar's Takht, Mohit Suri's Malang and a biopic on Olympic gold medalist Abhinav Bindra in the pipeline.

"I have three films releasing in this year and 2020 combined. I'm not happy with this. There should be at least four films a year. I have the strength and energy to do more films now. I am ready to fail. At the most the film will flop and for me that doesn't matter. I will work hard for the next one and hope it will do better," he concluded.

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