First Dhurandhar and now Dhurandhar: The Revenge, Aditya Dhar’s spy thrillers have been dominating the box office. Apart from Ranveer Singh, Akshaye Khanna and R. Madhavan, Sara Arjun is also receiving immense praise and love for her performance as Yalina. In a recent interview with Bollywood Hungama, casting director Mukesh Chhabra revealed why Sara was cast instead of another big female lead.
Mukesh Chhabra reveals why Sara Arjun got Yalina’s role in Dhurandhar
When asked about Sara’s casting, Mukesh revealed that they wanted a new face and 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 too, 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 added, “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).”
In Aditya Dhar’s film, Sara essays the role of Yalina, politician Jameel Jamali’s daughter, who falls in love with Ranveer Singh’s character and marries him. The second part shows the growing tensions in their marriage as Yalina gets to know the truth about his identity. The two-part film also stars Akshaye Khanna, R. Madhavan, Arjun Rampal, Sanjay Dutt and others in key roles.
About Dhurandhar: The Revenge’s success
While Dhurandhar collected ₹1,300 crore worldwide at the box office, Dhurandhar: The Revenge has surpassed ₹1,500 crore globally and is inching closer to surpassing the lifetime collection of Baahubali 2 ( ₹1,788.06 crore). The film took a bumper opening at the box office, collecting ₹145 crore, and has so far collected ₹959 crore net in India, beating the lifetime hauls of blockbusters such as KGF: Chapter 2 ( ₹859.70 crore), RRR ( ₹782.20 crore) and Kalki 2898 AD ( ₹646 crore). The film continues to maintain strong momentum at the box office.
