5 Awesome Befikre Casting Choices by Yash Raj Films Over the Years

As Aditya Chopra casts ‘Befikre’, a look back at some unusual casting by Yash Raj Films

As the cast of Aditya Chopra’s Befikre gets trending, here’s a look at a few Yash Raj Films over the years that have made some unusual casting choices.

1. Daag (1973)

Not many romantic heroes at the peak of their careers would sign on to play a bigamist in a heroine-oriented film. Yash Chopra convinced the then reigning superstar, Rajesh Khanna, to do just that in his first independently produced and directed film, Daag. Chopra went on to win the Filmfare award for Best Director, while the success of Daag gave Khanna another lease of life at the box-office.

2. Silsila (1981)

Probably the biggest casting coup in the history of Hindi cinema. Yash Chopra had initially cast Parveen Babi and Smita Patil opposite Amitabh Bachchan in the film, but a few days before the shoot, on being asked by Bachchan if he was happy with the team, Chopra confessed that he would ideally like to make the film with Jaya Bachchan and Rekha. It was Bachchan then who convinced Jaya and Rekha to sign up for Silsila. All this while the grapevine was buzzing with news of a strain in Amitabh and Jaya’s married life, because of his alleged affair with Rekha.

3. Lamhe (1991)

After the success of Chandni, Yash Chopra produced and directed the out-of-the-box Lamhe. Sridevi was a given choice to play the double role, but Chopra needed a distinguished, aristrocratic looking actor to play Virendra Pratap Singh. Anil Kapoor was then popular for his tapori roles, thanks to the success of films like Tezaab, Ram Lakhan and Benaam Badshah – yet surprisingly Chopra chose Kapoor to play Viren. And what a performance Kapoor put out, totally justifying the filmmaker’s trust and confidence in him.

4. Darr (1993)

The film that catapulted Shah Rukh Khan to fame in 1993, was originally narrated to Aamir Khan. Legend has it that Aamir wasn’t too convinced about playing the negative Rahul Mehra and so recommended Shah Rukh for the role. Apparently Sunny Deol, who was more popular than SRK at that time, too was given a choice to play either Sunil or Rahul, and Sunny picked the good guy’s role. Chopra trusted the floppy haired, odd-looking Delhi boy who made being bad look so good.

5. Rocket Singh: Salesman of the Year (2009)

Not many would have thought of passing off Ranbir Kapoor as a sardar. But Shimit Amin and Jaideep Sahni backed by Aditya Chopra were convinced that Ranbir could pull it off and he did. Though the film bombed at the box-office, Harpreet Singh Bedi has been one of Ranbir’s most endearing performances – straight from the heart.