Did you know Ashutosh Rana pretended to be a woman on the phone for the role of Lajja Shankar Pandey in Sangharsh?

Often times an actor goes out of their way to convince directors and producers that they are fit for the role. And we have heard of an actor/ actress take their characters so seriously that they imbibe some qualities that they think would fit for the role. Of late everyone is going gaga over Akshay Kumar's transgender role in Laxmii. However, it was Ashutosh Rana whose transgender role in Sangharsh starring Preity Zinta that still has an immense recall value. You would think that Ashutosh who was known for his negative character portrayals would have been the choice of director Tanuja Chandra. However, that is not the case. Recently, the filmmaker revealed that he was not very keen on casting Ashutosh in the film.

Yes, you read that right. And hence, the actor took it upon himself to convince his director to give him the role. And for the same, he posed as a woman on a phone call. "Ashutosh Rana had already played a very effective villain in my first film, 'Dushman'. So I wasn't keen on casting him for this. One day I received a call from a woman who said she wanted to work with me. We spoke for 10 minutes before I realised it was Ashutosh on the phone, posing as a woman! He said I couldn't possibly refuse him the role after being fooled so completely. And I guess I couldn't. I'm glad he tried this stunt with me because he went on to give us quite an unforgettable performance," the director narrated the incident. Quite interesting, eh? Well, this incident surely increased the respect we had for Ashutosh as an actor," Chandra told ETimes.

He went on to reveal how they came up with the character Lajja Shankar Pandey. "We had thought of Lajja Shankar Pandey as a near-psychotic person who is fearful for his life. Someone who has had a terrible life due to his own absolute inability to adjust to the world. His desperation to extend his life, leads him to his horribly misplaced belief that human sacrifice will help him live longer. The idea was loosely inspired by a real-life case at the time," the filmmaker added

Interesting, na? We for one cannot imagine any other actor playing Lajja Shankar Pandey in Sangharsh. What do you have to say about this? Let us know your thoughts by tweeting to us @bollywood_life.

from Bollywood News and Gossip | Bollywood Movie Reviews, Songs and Videos | Bollywood Actress and Actors Updates | Bollywoodlife.com https://www.bollywoodlife.com/news-gossip/bollywood-news-did-you-know-ashutosh-rana-pretended-to-be-a-woman-on-the-phone-for-the-role-of-lajja-shankar-pandey-in-sangharsh-1719152/
via Gr8 Pic