Abhinav Kashyap recalls Ranbir Kapoor pushing for Katrina Kaif in Besharam, says Sonakshi Sinha was his first choice: ‘People even suggested I had an affair with Pallavi Sharda’

After making his debut with the blockbuster Dabangg, director Abhinav Kashyap returned with Ranbir Kapoor-starrer Besharam (2013). Over a decade later, Kashyap has revisited the film’s casting process, calling it a case of “history repeating itself.”

Ranbir said, ‘Not Sonakshi, I’m not comfortable with her’

Speaking with Bollywood Thikana, the filmmaker shared that during Dabangg, he had been urged to cast Katrina Kaif opposite Salman Khan but didn’t find her right for the part. At the time, Katrina was reportedly seeing Salman. Years later, when he signed Besharam, he found himself in a similar situation — this time with Ranbir recommending Katrina, who was then rumoured to be dating him.



“Katrina was not the choice,” Abhinav said. “Ranbir had asked me, ‘She wants to do the film, so consider her.’ I said, ‘She is not right for the part, I need a Punjaban from Delhi.’ Katrina needed to work on her accent, and I wouldn’t have been able to hide it. If you see, all of her films before then had to make it clear that she was either an NRI or a foreigner, because she couldn’t speak in Hindi.”

The filmmaker revealed that he had considered Sonakshi Sinha again, after their successful collaboration on Dabangg, but Ranbir was not comfortable with the idea. Abhinav explained, “I wanted to cast Sonakshi initially, but Ranbir said, ‘Not Sonakshi, I’m not comfortable with her.’ Now, the reason behind his discomfort you’ll have to ask him. I told him that I’m not comfortable with Katrina.”

Pallavi Sharda lands the role

Eventually, after auditioning several actors including Taapsee Pannu, Swara Bhasker, Tamannaah Bhatia, and Parineeti Chopra, Abhinav cast newcomer Pallavi Sharda in the lead. “Pallavi auditioned, and everyone liked her — Ranbir, his parents, and the Viacom management. She was purely there on merit. But the industry couldn’t tolerate a newcomer like her getting such a big project. People even suggested I had an affair with her, which was untrue,” he said.

According to Kashyap, Pallavi faced resistance simply because she had previously appeared in a small role in My Name is Khan. “The industry couldn’t digest a supporting actor landing a lead role in such a coveted project over so many others,” he added.



Despite the chatter, Abhinav insisted he never had an issue with Katrina personally. Recalling a conversation with her, he said, “Katrina once came and met me when I was recording a song at Yash Raj. She asked, ‘You have a problem with me?’ I said, ‘No, I have no problems. The day I have a script that requires an NRI character, I will come to you first.’”

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