Meezaan Jafri recalls playing Ranveer Singh's body-double in Padmaavat, says 'I was terrified, I was in bad shape'

Meezaan Jaffri's silver screen debut happened with Malaal in 2019, but in reality, it had happened a few years before Malaal. He actually played the body double for Ranveer Singh for Padmaavat. Yes, you read that right. In fact, he had to also fill in for an unavailable Ranveer on one occasion, and in a recent interview, he recalled the experience.

Talking to radio host Siddharth Kannan, Meezaan revealed that he was actually assisting director Sanjay Leela Bhansali in the film and added, "Bhansali sir trusted me, and he would rehearse scenes with me. He would record the rehearsals and the blockings, and he'd give me feedback on my performance."

Then, one day when Ranveer wasn't available, Meezaan was asked to fill in. He said, "I was there on set, in costume and makeup. I hadn't eaten anything, so I was really stressed. I was a little late, and it took an hour for the prosthetics and for me to get into the look. I learned the script in that one hour. The moment I came out, I was already nervous about doing proper acting in front of Sanjay Leela Bhansali, it was technically my 'silver screen debut', and there were 500 junior artists around me, and I had to deliver a whole speech. Then an assistant director comes to me and shows me Ranveer's version of the shot, and asks me to replicate his mannerisms. I was like, 'why couldn't you have told me before! I was already so tense'. But regardless, I went ahead, I was terrified, I was in bad shape."

It was much later that he realised that his face wouldn't be visible! He called it an unforgettable experience.