Tigmanshu Dhulia is currently promoting his upcoming film Ghamasaan, starring Arshad Warsi and Pratik Gandhi. During a recent interview, the filmmaker revealed that Gandhi was not his original choice for the film. The role eventually played by the actor was first offered to Shah Rukh Khan, who politely declined it for a straightforward reason.

In an interview with Bollywood Hungama, the Paan Singh Tomar director recalled narrating the story of Ghamasaan to Shah Rukh soon after completing the script.

‘Tishu, I don’t do realistic pictures’

Tigmanshu said he had approached Shah Rukh for the cop’s role that Pratik Gandhi eventually plays in the film.

Recalling the conversation, he said, “When I wrote the script of this film, I went to Shah Rukh Khan first for the role that Pratik Gandhi is playing in the film. So he heard it and he is Shah Rukh Khan, his heart is like a football field. Also, we have known each other for a long time since Dil Se days and in the film Zero, I played the role of his father.”

He continued, “So he heard the script and he told me, ‘Yaar Tishu, mein is tarah ki realistic pictures nahi karta hoon yaar (I don’t do realistic films like these).’”

Arshad Warsi, who was also part of the conversation, said he understood Shah Rukh’s decision. The actor said he would rather watch the superstar in larger-than-life roles. 

“I get it. I also want to see him like Tom Cruise. That’s all. That poor guy, if he does anything realistic then I will have a problem,” Arshad quipped.

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Tigmanshu Dhulia on ‘stories’ disappearing from mainstream cinema

Apart from Ghamasaan, Tigmanshu Dhulia has also recently made headlines for his comments on Aditya Dhar’s Dhurandhar. Speaking at an event, the filmmaker argued that several commercially mainstream films today function like “fictional biopics”, citing films such as Pushpa, KGF and Dhurandhar.

While he said he enjoyed the first part of the Ranveer Singh-starrer, Tigmanshu questioned whether the film could be easily summed up as a conventional story.

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“If someone asks you about the story of Dhurandhar, you can’t tell it. There is a guy who goes to Pakistan aur vaha tabahi macha deta hai. Is this a story? The stories are finished in films. Also, those who tell the stories are also finished and those who want to tell stories aren’t allowed to do so. They think that their films won’t work. They follow the same pattern,” he said.

‘Extreme capitalism finishes individuality’

Tigmanshu also spoke about capitalism and its impact on storytelling and individuality. He argued that under “extreme capitalism”, people, cities and cultures begin to resemble one another. 

“This happens during extreme capitalism, people also start looking like each other. You see the fashion these days, everybody looks the same. They all have the same haircut. Even cities are looking identical to each other,” he said. 

Reflecting on his hometown Allahabad, now officially known as Prayagraj, the actor-director said the distinct character of cities was gradually disappearing.

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“My city Allahabad was known for so many different things but now it looks like any other city, same malls, same cars. This type of political system finishes your individuality,” he said.

About Ghamasaan

Tigmanshu’s Ghamasaan is set in the Hindi heartland and stars Arshad Warsi as Maharaj, with Pratik Gandhi playing a cop. The film is scheduled to stream on Zee5 on September 11.