A video of Bollywood actor Saif Ali Khan is resurfacing on social media in which he admits to having regretted passing on Pakistani superstar Fawad Khan’s role in Kapoor & Sons.
Co-guest Kangana Ranaut said that Saif should have done the film while praising the Zindagi Gulzar Hai star for his performance. “Fawad was so good in the film, I love Fawad.”
Earlier in another interview, Said revealed that, “I’m not a petty guy with a narrow-minded mentality. I’m very liberal in my views and can look beyond things. It’d be amazing to have a gay character as one of the roles in my portfolio and I look forward to playing one. It’s got nothing to do with being perceived as an alpha male, like your article argued, as I don’t think I have a particularly macho image. At the time when Kapoor and Sons was offered to me, I didn’t feel it was the right project for me to get into.”
“It’s very sad if people have perceived my rejection of Kapoor and Sons as something to do with homosexuality, something that I wholeheartedly support. Everyone makes mistakes, but when Karan (Johar, film producer) and Shakun (Batra, film director) came to me, I just didn’t feel like doing the film… just like when Sajid Khan came to me, I had felt like doing Humshakals, which now I know was horrible. Shit happens.”
When Shakun Batra’s Kapoor And Sons was released back in 2016, no one had thought that the film would be what it is. It is probably one of the most realistic yet entertaining family films that, instead of painting a rosy picture, gives us a glimpse of what really goes on in a family. The way the vulnerabilities, flaws, and shortcomings of each character were portrayed has been lauded for years and it made us empathize with the family. Fawad Khan was unanimously praised for his acting in the film. His portrayal of a closet man was spot on. However, the role was rejected by multiple A-list actors before it fell in Fawad’s lap.
The five actors are Saif Ali Khan, Hrithik Roshan, Farhan Akhtar, Shahid Kapoor, and Aditya Roy Kapoor.
Popular film critic Rajeev Masand wrote in a leading daily, “As many as half a dozen actors are believed to have turned down the role of the elder brother in Shakun Batra’s hit Kapoor & Sons, before the makers approached Fawad Khan. Saif Ali Khan, Hrithik Roshan, Farhan Akhtar, Shahid Kapoor and Aditya Roy Kapoor were all approached. While some explicitly admitted that they didn’t want to play a character that happens to be gay, others reportedly cited different excuses.”
Rajeev also sighted that Farhan was the only one who gave declined in the most professional way. “Farhan, whom Shakun had assisted previously, said he loved the film but didn’t see himself playing the older sibling. Of the lot, the makers say he was the most professional and upfront about his reservations.”
