Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra reveals Aamir Khan had personally requested Hrithik Roshan to do Rang De Basanti: 'It’s a good film, kar le'

Rang De Basanti would just be one of the finest films in Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra's filmography, but it remains one of the finest films to be ever made and has gotten a cult status from cinema lovers. But, it wasn't easy for the film to be made. In fact, for the role of Karan Singhania, which was finally played by Siddharth, Mehra found himself in a bit of a soup when actors refused to do the role. In his autobiography, The Stranger in the Mirror, he has revealed that Farhan Akhtar, Abhishek Bachchan, and Hrithik Roshan were approached for the role. In fact, while Abhishek thought Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra was going 'nuts', Aamir had himself requested Hrithik to consider the film.

In his autobiography, the director wrote, "Every known actor kept declining the role to play Karan Singhania. I had first offered it to Farhan Akhtar. This was a time when he had never acted in a film before and was one of the most respected young directors. He was both surprised and amused. When I narrated it to Abhishek, he told me point-blank, ‘I thought you are crazy but after hearing your narration I think you are completely nuts.’"

He then went on to add, "I requested Aamir to put in a word with Hrithik Roshan. Aamir even went to Hrithik’s house. ‘It’s a good film—kar le’ (do it). But it wasn’t meant to be. Finally, Siddharth signed on the dotted line in January 2005, one month before the shoot. He had never done a Hindi film before. Bharathi had seen the Tamil film Boys, starring Siddharth, a couple of months before the shoot, and his energy and unique combination of innocence and naivety came through. She thought he could pull off the conflict in Karan’s character well. The senior actors accepted the smaller parts with grace—Om Puri, Anupam Kher, Kirron Kher, Mohan Agashe and K.K. Raina are all masters of their craft and formed a dependable unit on which we built the movie."

And what a Bollywood debut it proved to be for Siddharth. We wonder if the actors who had rejected the part had regretted their decision latter.