Director Aditya Dhar has received strong response for his film Dhurandhar The Revenge, which released on March 19. The film has been performing well at the box office and has been appreciated for its action and story. It features actors like Ranveer Singh, Sanjay Dutt, R Madhavan, Arjun Rampal and others in key roles.
One of the performances that has gained attention is by Sara Arjun, who plays the role of Yalina, Ranveer Singh’s wife in the film. This is her first film as a lead actor, although she had earlier worked as a child artist.
Casting director Mukesh Chhabra recently spoke about why Sara Arjun was chosen for the role instead of a more popular actress. He explained that the team wanted someone new who would fit the character naturally without any previous image.
He said, “Aditya ko bhi bahut saare log message kar rahe the ki unhe Ranveer ke opposite cast hona hai, mujhe bhi messages aarahe the. But I told Aditya very clearly, hume ek aisa face chahiye jo sirf uss jagah ka lage, koi purana baggage naa ho (A lot of people were messaging Aditya, saying they wanted to be cast opposite Ranveer. I was getting messages as well. But I told Aditya very clearly that we needed a face that truly looked like she belonged to that place, without any old baggage). So a new face would work better because any actor who has done two films with Ranveer, that connection won’t be established because his character is going to Pakistan and meeting her.”
He also shared details about the selection process. According to him, the team conducted a large number of auditions before finalizing the actor. He said, “Toh completely fresh face hona chahiye tha. Though Sara had done films before as a child actor, but she had never done full-fledged roles in Bollywood films. We were clear ki agar hum uss duniya main jaa rah hain, toh ekdum surprise hona chahiye kj ladki kaun hai.
Hume itne auditions kiya, 1200-1300 audition kiye aur fir humne Sara ko final audition kiya. We were also craving for a new face (So it had to be a completely fresh face. Though Sara had acted in films before as a child actor, she had never done full-fledged roles in Bollywood films. We were clear that if we were entering that world, it had to feel like a complete surprise people should wonder who this girl is. We held so many auditions, around 1,200–1,300 in all, and then we finally auditioned Sara. We were also craving a new face).”
The decision to cast a new actor appears to have worked, as Sara Arjun’s performance is being noticed by audiences.