Meet actress who gave 12 auditions for Salman Khan's Sultan, lost role to Anushka Sharma, calls herself 'not a typical YRF heroine', she is..

It would not be wrong to say that Salman Khan's Sultan was a career-defining film for Anushka Sharma who played the role of Aarfa Ali Khan, Sultan's wife, in the film. Directed by Ali Abbas Zafar and produced by Aditya Chopra under Yash Raj Films, Sultan became one of the biggest hits of 2016. But, do you know Anushka Sharma was not the first choice for the lead role opposite Salman Khan? Actress Anupria Goenka, known for her roles in Tiger Zinda Hai, Padmaavat, and War, missed out on Sultan, despite giving 12 auditions for the role. 

In a recent chat with Siddharth Kannan, Anupria Goenka opened up about not being a typical Yash Raj Films (YRF) heroine and losing out on the part that cemented Anushka Sharma's position as a star. 

Anupria Goenka was quoted as saying, "Maine Sultan ke liye audition kiya tha, main part. Tab voh log naye logo ko dhoond rahe the. Mere kuch 11-12 test hue the… pehle ek audition hua tha, phir doosra audition hua, phir there was a music video test, phir there was a dance test with Vaibhavi (Merchant), and then there were readings with Ali (Abbas Zafar)."

Anupria Goenka further added, "That one-month process was beautiful. Thankfully mere liye voh poora process ek mahine ka tha. Agar voh 6-7 mahine ya ek saal chalta toh insaan anxiety main hi reh jaata na… Jab tak main Ali se nahi mili, mujhe pata bhi nahi tha ki Sultan ki baat ho rahi hai because YRF main they don’t give you the actual script. They give you some other script and they make you audition on that… It was only when I met Ali and he kept referring to ‘Mr Khan’, then I realised ki this is for Sultan and the main part."

Reflecting on why she lost out on the role to Anushka Sharma, Anupria Goenka said, "The whole process was very heartbreaking when I didn’t get it, of course… Ek toh I’m dusky, which I’m very proud of. I love being dusky. But I’m not a typical YRF heroine, right? I do not have the most shapely legs…." 

READ | Meet Ranveer Singh's 'sister', daughter of former actor, whose teacher kissed her on lips at 8, dominated her life till 14, told her 'it is what dads do', she is..