Say what! Rajkummar Rao was supposed to play Nawazuddin Siddiqui’s parallel lead in Gangs of Wasseypur initially

Gangs of Wasseypur 2 did see a tiff between Nawazuddin Siddiqui's Faizal and Rajkummar Rao's Shamshad

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Rajkummar Rao has made a big revelation. The actor shared that he was initially offered to play a big role in Anurag Kashyap’s Gangs of Wasseypur. The actor was supposed to play the parallel lead to Nawazuddin Siddiqui in the movie. However, eventually, Rajkummar played one of the smaller roles in the film and without any hesitation.

What did Rajkummar Rao say?

Rajkummar Rao spilled the beans to Mashable India. He revealed that he was originally cast as the parallel lead to Nawazuddin Siddiqui in Gangs of Wasseypur. The script was then changed and thus, he got a smaller role. “At that stage, the film was about my character and Nawaz’s. It was about their rivalry. I was thrilled to have gotten an Anurag Kashyap film after LSD, and that too as a parallel lead,” he said.

LSD got Rajkummar his role in GoW

Anurag Kashyap saw Rajkummar in LSD and called him for GoW. This was when the film was at the initial stage. Unfortunately, 10 days after Rajkummar and Nawaz practiced for their roles, the script changed and Rajkummar’s character went from prominent to behind the shadows. However, the actor had no qualms about doing the film. Anurag promised Rajkummar that he wouldn’t be upset if he quit the film but Rajkummar stayed for an opportunity to work with Anurag Kashyap.

What did Rajkummar Rao eventually play in Gangs of Wasseypur?

Rajkummar eventually played the role of Shamshad Alam in the film. He is a small-time goon in transport business. As he starts trading iron, Shamshad makes an alliance with Faizal (played by Nawazuddin), only to backstab him. He plays a bigger role in the second installment, after becoming Faizal’s numero uno enemy.

How Gangs of Wasseypur 2 helped Rajkummar be known as the actor he is?

While shooting for the second installment of Gangs of Wasseypur, Rajkummar met casting director Mukesh Chhabra. He introduced Rajkummar and Hansal Mehta, thus marking the beginning of their fruitful collaboration on projects. The same began with Shahid in 2012, which brough Rajkummar in immense limelight. Currently, the actor is seen in the Netflix series, Guns and Gulaabs.

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