During a conversation with a music label, Suniel Shetty reflected on a missed opportunity to work with filmmaker Aditya Dhar. He explained that he had once been chosen for a role in Dhar’s ambitious project ‘The Immortal Ashwatthama’, a film that was ultimately abandoned after facing financial hurdles and shifts in the industry. Vicky Kaushal had been lined up as the central figure but the production never moved forward and ‘Dhurandhar’ happened. In the interview with Lehren Retro, Shetty recalled, “I was supposed to play a role in Aditya’s film ‘Ashwatthama’. But then it got shelved. Everyone was signed and everything was done. But when I saw (Dhar’s next film) ‘Dhurandhar’, I wished I could have been a part of it. Everyone was praising Akshaye Khanna for being the best in the film, but I felt that Aditya and Ranveer Singh were much better than him. The audience can see that Akshaye’s character is built up, great, with background music, everything working in his favor. But Ranveer has none of that, yet he shines. How? Because he created his own character. With his body, his look, and especially his eyes.” And the rest, as they say, is history.
