Shreyas Talpade Reveals Nagesh Kukunoor Asked Him To Cancel His Wedding To Shoot For Iqbal: 'I Didn’t Know What To Do'

Shreyas Talpade's debut Iqbal is one of the most memorable films in his now very long filmography. His critically acclaimed debut comes with an equally interesting back story about how he landed the part. Shreyas in a recent interview revealed he had decided to quit his acting career on TV in favour of marrying his then-girlfriend and now wife Deepti Talpade and after they had set a date for their wedding day, Iqbal happened.

The actor had auditioned for a small role in the film but ended by bagging the lead after auditioning. He was told to clear his schedule for three months as the shoot would commence in Hyderabad. Shreyas reveals that when he asked for a day off on New Year’s Eve to get married he was asked to cancel his wedding by filmmaker Nagesh Kukunoor.

On bagging Iqbal right before his wedding Shreyas told Times Of India, “I was very happy till, on December 28, Nagesh told me we would be shooting in Hyderabad from the day after. I was shocked and asked if I could get a day off on December 31. Nagesh was very disappointed, thinking I was asking for leave to party the night away till I told him I was getting married. He was livid and asked me to cancel the wedding, saying his Iqbal couldn’t be married. Here I was, a middle-class guy whose wedding cards had gone out, being told to cancel it; I didn’t know what to do. It was after a lot of convincing, and assuring him that I would keep the wedding under wraps, that he let me have a day off.”

Shreyas and Deepti later arrived in Hyderabad on January 1, where the actor commenced shooting for his debut and got a fever on his wedding night. The actor also revealed that he kept denying his marital status in the press and at the premiere of Iqbal his wife attended as Nagesh’s sister. The film’s producer Subhash Ghai even refused to believe that Shreyas was married after learning the truth as he totally convinced everyone with his performance that he was 18.

Well, all did turn out well for Shreyas and Deepti in the end and we couldn’t be happier that the actor did not give up acting as he had initially planned.