An actor has a right to demand a price that he feels he deserves. Often, actors cut their price to do a film or to work with a filmmaker or actor they admire. Obviously for R Madhavan, Fanney Khan mainlining Aishwarya Rai and Anil Kapoor was not that film. He was in talks for the film, but the role ultimately went to Rajkummar Rao.
The role was that of Aishwarya Rai Bachchan’s love interest. There are reports that he couldn’t accommodate it because of date issues. But an insider reveals, “The real story is that Madhavan asked for a huge remuneration. He wanted Rs 1.5 crore for a 15-day shoot. And the makers felt that it was not justified. The plan is to make the film within a certain budget and the price quoted by Maddy didn’t align with that. It was mutually decided he couldn’t be part of the film and Rajkummar Rao was brought in immediately.”
But, Madhavan wasn’t the only one vying for the role. “Casting director Mukesh Chhabra auditioned many young actors, right from Akshay Oberoi to Kartik Aaryan. But it didn’t work out,” says the source.
It was then that Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra decided to introduce a fresh face as Aishwarya’s love interest. “Mehra was keen on casting Adil Ibrahim, who’s a big name in the Malayalam film industry. But that also didn’t happen. Aishwarya didn’t want Adil in the film and she put her foot down. She was okay with working opposite Madhavan and the later choice, Rajkummar,” the source concludes.
