Actor Randeep Hooda has revealed that he was originally offered the role of Mughal emperor Aurangzeb in the hit historical film Chhaava. The role was later played by Akshaye Khanna, whose performance received praise after the film’s release. Chhaava featured Vicky Kaushal as Sambhaji Maharaj, the second ruler of the Maratha Empire, and became one of the biggest Hindi film successes in recent years.
Speaking to Zoom, Randeep shared that he decided not to accept the role because he was going through a difficult period in both his personal and professional life. He said filmmaker Laxman Utekar had approached him for the film soon after he completed work on Swatantrya Veer Savarkar and had moved into post production for the project.
The actor explained that he had undergone a major physical transformation for Savarkar and was mentally exhausted during that phase. He also said he was dealing with legal stress at the time. Sharing the reason behind his decision, Randeep said, “I was going through an IP court case and I had so much Hindu-Muslim thing going on in the whole narrative and I just did not want to go down that street. So after that when this movie [Eetha] came on board, I liked it.”
Randeep further mentioned that he had become extremely lean for his previous role and had shaved his head, which made it difficult for him to immediately prepare for another intense historical character. Because of these reasons, he chose to step away from the project.
Even after his exit, Chhaava performed strongly at the box office and received a positive response from audiences. The film’s storytelling and portrayal of Sambhaji Maharaj connected well with viewers across the country. Akshaye Khanna’s portrayal of Aurangzeb also became one of the most discussed performances from the movie.
Away from films, Randeep has been enjoying a happy phase in his personal life. Earlier this year, he and wife Lin Laishram welcomed their first child, a baby girl, on March 10, which is also the birthday of Randeep’s father, Ranbir Hooda. The couple later introduced their daughter as Nyomica Hooda on social media.
On the work front, Randeep was recently seen in Inspector Avinash 2, directed by Neeraj Pathak. The new season premiered on JioHotstar on May 15.