Filmmaker Anurag Kashyap has opened up about the early casting discussions for his ambitious film Bombay Velvet. The 2013 drama, which eventually starred Ranbir Kapoor and Anushka Sharma, was expected to be a game-changer but ended up performing poorly at the box office. In a conversation with Komal Nahta on his YouTube channel, Anurag recalled how the film’s scale grew much bigger than he initially intended, and how that affected several decisions, including casting.
Anurag shared that before Ranbir Kapoor came on board, he had hoped to cast Ranveer Singh, who had just entered the industry at the time. He said that there was very little confidence in Ranveer back then, even though the actor had a lot of energy and passion.
According to him, many in the industry advised him to choose a more established face to match the film’s large production scale. Anurag mentioned that respected names like Karan Johar and Aditya Chopra suggested that the movie needed a bigger star to justify its growing budget.
Ranveer, meanwhile, went on to prove himself with films like Ram Leela, Bajirao Mastani and Padmaavat, solidifying his position as one of Bollywood’s leading stars. He was last seen in Singham Again and is expected to appear next in Dhurandhar later this year.