When Arjun Rampal Blasted Rang De Basanti Director Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra For Being ‘Confused’, Leading To Him Getting Replaced By Siddharth: “I Am Happy It Didn’t Work Out In A Way”
Arjun Rampal started shooting for Rang De Basanti until he walked out of the set one day, getting replaced by Siddharth. Here's what happened.
Arjun Rampal, Once Called Rang De Basanti Director Confused & Problematic Walking Out & Getting Replaced By Siddharth ( Photo Credit – Instagram ; IMDb ; Wikimedia )
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Rang De Basanti is one of the most iconic films in the history of Indian Cinema. The film, which starred Aamir Khan, R Madhavan, Siddharth, Sharman Joshi, Kunal Kapoor, Soha Ali Khan, Atul Kulkarni, and Waheeda Rehman, went through a lot of casting turbulence. Many know that Shah Rukh Khan was offered to play the Air Force officer. But do you know that even Arjun Rampal was a part of the ensemble?
Arjun, in fact, also shot for a few days until, one day, he stormed out of the set. The Om Shanti Om actor was to play the role of Karan Singhania, who transforms into Bhagat Singh in the course of the story, but the director Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra was not convinced with the casting.
Even actor Aamir Khan had doubts and fears, after which, one day, Arjun Rampal surrendered to his patience and eventually walked out of the film, getting replaced by Siddharth, who aced the part. Rampal once spoke about this casting trial and how it cost him a lot.
During his appearance on one of the episodes of Koffee with Karan, Arjun Rampal revealed how Aamir Khan might have been dissatisfied with his casting. He said, “I had heard rumors that Aamir Khan does take a keen interest in his films, and I would have loved to work with him. But to full respect to him, he did have a lot of fears that he put on the table, and I hope all those fears are sorted now and can make the film that he wants.”
The actor even called Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra confused and problematic. He confessed, “I had a problem with the director. I was signed for the film, I had a new look and blocked my dates. It just became very confusing because the director was very confused. I’m happy it didn’t work out in a way, because Rakeysh was very confused about the script, he was very erratic, some days he would be like ‘This is the way I want to do it’… and ‘You’re my character, oh are you my character?’ When someone is this confused, it’s best to say ‘I can’t work with you and good luck.'”
However, walking out of Rang De Basanti affected Arjun Rampal’s professional life since he allotted bulk dates of three months, as demanded by the filmmaker, and later had to sit out of work. He recalled, “I think it is very unprofessional to do that to an actor. Yes, there was good amount of work coming to me and good work—and so people who were meant to be coming to me, didn’t come. I have lost out on work, it’s okay, everything happens for the best. I’m not holding anything against anyone.”
Arjun might not have been a part of the film, but it still worked like a miracle at the Box Office and turned out to be one of the best films Indian Cinema witnessed. The film won four National Film Awards for Best Popular Film, Best Playback Singer, Best Audiography and Best Editing. It also grabbed a British Film Academy Award for Best Film.
